Spark
by Arashi Uzumaki-Namikaze
Summary: Midoriya Izumi is quirkless. The world is unkind to quirkless children. A realistic take on what might have happened to a quirkless girl when the world's strongest hero takes a closer look at what she's going through. Gradual AU, Fem Izuku.
1. Chapter 1: Enter: Midoriya Izumi

**The world is unkind to quirkless people. **

**This is Midoriya Izumi's story-and the beginning of everything changing for her.**

**Warning for Season 1 Bakugo. Note: Bakugo/Consequences is the beginning 'pairing' for this story, if anything. Bakugo needs to learn the consequences for his actions first and foremost.**

**Present-tense. Initially posted in February of 2019.**

* * *

(April 4, XX19, Orudera Middle, Musutafu District, Japan, 2:00pm)

The world is unkind to quirkless children.

The world has been teaching Midoriya Izumi this lesson since she turned four and her quirk never came in. She's been bullied, picked on, and hurt—and nearly hospitalized a few times. Starting with her childhood friend, Bakugo Katsuki, everyone bullies on her because she's the quirkless brat. She's worthless, in their eyes.

And nothing she, or her mother, do can convince even the teachers to step in for her. Most of them join right in with it, this bullying, this ridiculous treatment of her and she can't help herself—it feels like she's trapped in a cage with no way out. She's had a nasty feeling this would go too far one day, and she'd never been able to stomach watching people get hurt.

She's been standing up to Bakugo since she was four years old and a crybaby. She wants him to think for himself. Wants him to realize he's hurting people. Wants him to _stop _hurting people who don't deserve it.

Standing up to him, though, doesn't have that effect on him.

He's just turned to attacking her instead, and deep down, Izumi knew they weren't friends. She's tried for years to convince herself they were at one point, if not now, and that Ka—that _Bakugo _was just trying to be kind by discouraging her from becoming a hero without a quirk, but…then Bakugo went too far and broke her ribs. It was the same week Izumi was pronounced quirkless by a Quirk specialist.

Izumi's mother had put her into a separate school after that, just to keep her safe, and by and large Izumi thinks it was good. Arubeshi Elementary is a kind place, kinder than Orudera, and she misses it sometimes.

And then, because of money, Izumi and Kacchan attend Orudera, together and Kacchan found out and got worse, and—she swallowed hard, and he's taken to _doing_worse. He's lost the right to be called Kacchan, but she still sometimes calls him that out of habit, or—didn't respond to him at all. Though he seems to have forgotten his 'quirkless' childhood friend wasn't named Izu, or _Deku _as he calls her every single day.

Worthless, useless, quirkless, _freak _.

All words he uses to describe her.

Words she's learned to hate, and worse yet, she's starting to believe that everyone in her life—even her mother—thought this way on some level. Because what if she really _iss—_

Ruthlessly, Izumi shoves the thoughts aside and tries to focus on what she's writing. Thankfully, the last period of her day is homeroom. End of day announcements are starting, but Izumi isn't interested in them. She's trying to get homework done—or appear to get homework done—during her teacher's free period. The free period is usually used for that, but Izumi's done with hers, since it was an easy assignment.

So instead, she's working on her hero analysis on the heroes and the situation this morning, from the Tatooin shopping district.

Better to be prepared than not, if she wants to make it as a hero. She needs to know what kind of people she's fighting alongside. And she also needs to be able to take them down if she has to, like Eraserhead, who fights people effectively quirkless—and renders _them _quirkless. It was actually after one of his fights went on one of the forums that she realized there was value in analysis of heroes' fighting styles.

He's not super well-known, but Izumi loves him for being able to fight so well and bring people down to his level before kicking their asses. Really, the analysis was supported by _TiredCatDad _, one of the hero forum's top contributors, and Izumi sees no reason that analysis won't help her in the future.

Most people would find it tedious to analyze each and every fight, but Izumi loves every second it. She'd analyzed and re-analyzed all the fights she'd ever seen, recorded or in person, with her near-perfect memory helping her recall as many of the details as possible. She'd noted down all of the details in every single fight, and then used them to work out how the heroes' and villains' quirks worked. She usually analyzed heroes in the notebooks she took to school because, at least if someone found them, they'd write it off as her being a fangirl. Villains, she usually analyzed more ruthlessly, but there were a set of Strategy notebooks at home that she'd used specifically to work out how to react to a hero going rogue, and which heroes she needed to keep an eye on.

The fan community is remarkably well-informed, and Izumi has a lot of information on the top Ten heroes in Japan, and the world, partly thanks to them. Even the less well-known ones are of interest to her because, maybe, they (especially those with less powerful quirks) could provide her with a better way to start fighting quirkless. She's been working on her stamina and has been in and out of _aikido _lessons since she was a child, but it's not enough.

Even if she's at the peak of human limits, it's not enough. Though it does help keep Bakugo off her back, these days. So she started analyzing villains when she was about eight, in the hopes of learning how to take them down when she becomes a pro.

No one would write off an analysis of a villain's tactics as fan girling over cool heroes . Especially not half-formed, half-baked ones from a middle schooler, and Izumi didn't need any more hate for what she did. Most people assume she's just a nerd who likes to go to heroes' fight scenes (and a stereotypical fan at that) and she _is _; she just also likes to know about the villains in the world and to know, or learn, how to beat them. But in her mind this is also practice for the future. What should she do when she encounters her first villain? _Freeze?_

She needs to know how to do better. She needs to be _able _to do better the first time she runs into a villain. She's not going to have a quirk to rely on, which means she's going to have to get better at using her surroundings to her advantage and analyzing villains' strategies, not just their quirks. Something that a surprising number of pro heroes have difficulty with, outside the top ten.

And even then, only a very few pro heroes have actually used their minds. Eraserhead, for one, is one of her favorites because he pulls people with quirks down—he's one of the best examples of how to use surroundings to one's advantage. She's analyzed him, but there isn't a lot for her to go on, there, because he's an Underground hero-all she knows is that he uses his capture weapon, carbon-fiber reinforced strips of cloth, and surprise to take villains down.

Obviously she'll need practical experience at some point, and maybe some practice—perhaps even getting into UA would help her there. She wants to use her heroic license to help people, but also to arrest some of the less heroic 'heroes' of the world. The heroes she's analyzed aren't all good, and she's not a fan of how the media (and by proxy, other pros) protects the more ruthless villainous heroes, especially since they just skirt the edge of the law or are too powerful to be taken down. Which means if she gets her hero license, she can officially take her evidence to the police force, and maybe do _something _about their abuse of power.

That's a side project for when she makes it as a hero, though. For now, she just really wants to enroll in UA, All Might's alma mater school. To be given the chance to do something like that is beyond anything she ever thought she'd get, and she _wants _it, and she wants it badly.

Izumi rubs tired eyes as she stares down at her notebook, trying to blink the sleep away from them. She was up late last night redoing her analysis of All Might, and adding in a few weaknesses she'd noted in the No.1's recent fights, as well as possibly noting an injury and how to fight around it. He's started favoring his left side a little, and while he's good at fooling most people into going for his right, she's seen him go white when the left is hit. If she ever meets him, she wants to ask him what's wrong.

Her analysis of Mt. Lady as a new hero is missing something, even though she can't quite figure out what right now. It's bothering her, seeing the big _blank _space left near where she usually wrote strategies or something similar relating to the hero's quirk and how it was used. Sadly, Mt. Lady's debut was quick, so quick that Izumi can't get a good read of her. And it's so utterly lacking in technique, which could imply laziness, or it implies that she's done this on purpose. She wants to trick the brighter heroes—aha.

Izumi writes down her suspicions. Because if the woman _is _doing this because she's working with a villain, or is even a villain in disguise, she will need to find proof. Her eyes, Izumi remembers, are cold. Colder than the coldest ice. No pro's eyes are that cold without a reason, and the pros with the least emotion on display often have the most to hide.

Mt. Lady's huge. She has superior strength, speed, and agility—something to do with her gigantification quirk, which had to use up a lot of energy. She's also got harder skin than most people, or it's a part of her outfit to make villains underestimate her. Her outfit is designed to be used as partly a distraction—Izumi's not an idiot, she knows a lot of people find that sort of thing attractive, and many pros use their appearances to get wha they want. Furthermore, Mt. Lady isn't afraid of a villain with monstrous strength, or speed—but she might be more leery of one who could cut her down.

The size boost didn't appear to slow her down any, either. She'd not acted like it had, at least, but there had to be some drawbacks to her quirk and she certainly hadn't really used the environment well. She probably consumes more than the average person just to keep her energy up because a transformation quirk like that has to eat up a lot of energy. Her personality seems to reflect that—kind, somewhat quick, and clearly efficient in her takedown of villains. Probably by necessity—maybe there's a time limit to how much she can use her ability. Though she gets negative points for not working with a team; it isn't the first time Izumi's seen this kind of behavior from an up and coming pro, but it's disappointing all the same. It implies they're more interested in fame than in saving civilians, which puts them on her watchlist of heroes to investigate a little more. Though Mt. Lady did help Kamui Woods take the purse-snatcher down, and it was clear the other pro had been having some difficulty before Mt. Lady stepped in.

Many licensed heroes aren't worth their training or the licenses they have. Izumi's found far too many accounts on the forums (unproven, of course, but still) of pros who aren't interested so much in saving the civilians as in their own self-image. The number of these accounts often include damaged or destroyed video footage and other proof that is neatly covered up.

After what happened to Ms. Otani, Izumi isn't taking any chances. Some heroes aren't worth the title, let alone their own ranking.

Kamui Woods isn't a new hero, but he is a favorite of most teenage and college-age girls, and one of the top 50 heroes in Japan. He's strong, agile, and fast, and does good work of limiting property destruction and civilian casualties in his work. He was also the subject of the documentary, _Life as a Spirit-Touched Child _, though the character based on him was so different as to be almost unrecognizable if not for Izumi being too good at research. His focus is on saving civilians, and protecting the general public; he's popular because he's _good _, or at least he tries to be—she hasn't found an account of him trying to cover up his mistakes anywhere, save once or twice, which turned out to be false rumors. He's not one of the clever heroes, but he did start out working with Ingenium and seems to embody the same qualities—that saving as many people as you could, as fast as you could, is the best way to go forward.

Izumi's not seen more than two accounts of Mt. Lady prior to her debut. All she knows is that Mt. Lady interned with Gang Orca's agency, and his agency tends to produce good, competent, but not necessarily kind heroes. Izumi resolves to look into her a bit more, because she wants to know about Japan's newest pro.

Still, though, something nags at Izumi about her; an insistent sense that she's missing something. Izumi doesn't have a quirk, but she's learned to trust these little feelings, because they're not wrong. There's something off about the situation that she can't put her finger on.

Izumi rubs her eyes again, wishing she could avoid the oncoming headache.

Something's been nagging at her about today since she got up. Something big, but she's not sure what.

She's felt like this before, but it's not always insistent.

The first time was when she saw Bakugo Katsuki for the first time since elementary school.

The last time was when Bakugo tried to corner her to force her to drop out of Orudera Middle.

She's going to have a bad day, again. It's not like she's had many good days, but today's going to be especially bad and she has the feeling she knows why when Mr. Sawada starts talking about the future.

"Come to think of it, Midoriya, aren't you also applying to UA?" asked Mr. Sawada, fixing her with a cold smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

Sawada Iemitsu is a relatively tall man, with long, brightly colored hair that stands on end—likely a result of his quirk. He can control his body parts by detaching his limbs, and he's got blood vessels but his hair is wired throughout his body and gives him nutrients, kind of like blood. He can also regrow limbs if he's injured. Thing is, his limit is (she's tested it) 2.5 meters, she _thinks _, and he really doesn't like her. He thinks she needs to be taught a lesson—probably because she's quirkless and still trying to make it as a hero.

Izumi barely pays attention to him, save to keep him from giving her unfair detentions. He's done this to a few other kids, too—anyone he sees as a 'troublemaker' which means she counts on his list. She does her best to avoid him, and she tries not to see him outside of school whenever possible. And her mom knows Mr. Sawada has been trying to steer her away from becoming a hero, but not everything he's said to her, especially about being careful because she's so fragile.

At the same time, he pays no attention to what Bakugo does to her. He can do no wrong in Mr. Sawada's eyes, and he gives Bakugo and the other kids in the class who have strong quirks more leeway than her. Izumi's held to hard deadlines, and the others can get extensions on different homework assignments—it's like his expectations of her are higher. She gets the same feeling from him as she does most of her teachers; there's something wrong, there, and she thinks she knows what it is.

To him, she's a worthless quirkless kid who's making a spectacle of herself. To him, she's nothing more than a quirkless kid; it's an old feeling, however familiar and it's also pretty frustrating. But she can't do anything about it.

She covers her notebook with her homework the minute someone looks sideways at her, out of habit, and pretends to be paying attention to that. Checking her answers and double-checking her math equations. Better to use the time now to pretend to finish her homework, and try to run through the equations in her mind to study because Bakugo likes blowing hers up when he catches her working on it. Since it isn't due until next Tuesday, and it's only Wednesday, she's got time to redo it this time.

She's had to replace her notebooks so many times since coming to Orudera that Izumi's considering getting a part-time job. It can't be easy for her mom to keep her fed, clothed, and in school, even though Inko works as a lawyer at a hero disaster mitigation firm and is thus paid very well.

Today his smile is almost too cold. The prickling feeling in her chest is the first answer to his question, something cold and harsh and _angry _, and she knows he expects her to respond. Loudly, since she's done so before—but she won't give him the satisfaction. She catches his eyes and stares at him instead, because she knows he wants her to snap back at him.

Then jeering, taunting, and laughter explode around her.

Izumi bites down on her tongue, trying to shrink into her seat as they get louder, laughing about _Deku _and her dreams; jeering and taunting her about her quirklessness. The words wash over her at this point; they don't surprise her anymore. Her classmates are just one more thing she's going to have to prove wrong; just a few more people who don't believe in her. And Bakugo's going to fixate on her, again.

It doesn't matter if she's quirkless if she can figure out how to take down the stronger heroes because even the strongest heroes have a weakness in their technique. She can take them all down, if she tries, if she just has the chance _to _try and she knows that's what she's going to have to do. That's part of why she spends so much time analyzing their quirks. It's partly to know how to fight, but it's _fun _, and it won't _matter _if she's quirkless if she uses her _brain _instead. Pros tend to overlook quirkless people in particular, even the really smart quirkless people.

And if she ever develops a quirk in the future, being able to fight and coordinate _quirkless _is going to be to her advantage.

She doesn't say any of this, just stares at her desk.

She knows what happens when she speaks up.

She won't do it again.

"Eh? Is that right, _Deku _?" snarled Bakugo Katsuki, and her half-healed burns smart a little as she looks up at him. "What chance do _you _have?" she barely manages to snatch her homework and notebook back from the desk as he slams both hands down onto it, snarling into her face with explosions and scorching the desk. "Listen up, you useless _fuck _, I'm going to be the _only _student who applies to UA from this school, got it?"

Izumi swallows hard and stared at him, waiting for him to blow up her uniform's arm again. He'd burned her pretty badly the other day and he was going to go for her again, at least if she didn't stay still. Class would be over soon and she could leave then.

Part of her wants to cry, but Bakugo never stops when she cries. It's like her tears make him happy to keep going; like they're a neon sign blaring for him to move forward. She won't let him make her cry again.

She can't. He's getting something out of this and she can't _give _it to him anymore.

The laughter from her classmates echoes through her mind as Izumi refuses to drop her eyes, feeling them burn. She'd learned if she did, it would hurt less, but she's_angry _today. She doesn't know why, she doesn't know when it came to this and she doesn't know how to feel about that but right now she's just frustrated and angry, with herself and with Bakugo and with everything that just keeps _happening _. It's been two years since she enrolled at Orudera and she just wants to have _one _day where this doesn't happen.

A part of her just wants to fight _back _today. He'd blow her up later if she backed down now, anyway—Bakugo doesn't know how to hold back. He'll have to learn, if he wants to be a good pro hero, but he's never listened to her.

Why should he start now?

She hopes, vindictively, his next teachers force him to clean up his act. It would serve him right for being such a massive _dick _about her lack of a quirk.

She holds back tears, anger and fear and frustration and deep down, the fucked up desire just to be his friend again burns, too. She doesn't understand why he does this; she's _never _understood, and after all this time, she's _tired _of it.

She's tired of wanting to be his friend, of being so pathetic she'll just take his hand and forgive him every single time he hurts her. She's tired of lying to her mom about things. She's tired of having only Bakugo as a sort-of friend.

"Tch. See? Can't even fucking talk _back _to me," laughs Bakugo, and the rest of the class laughs, too, either enjoying watching him bully her or too afraid to stand up. "What could _you _do? Quirkless freak like you probably can't even _get into _UA. You should just _give up _, loser, and let the _real _heroes get into UA, got it?!"

Izumi doesn't look away. She should; he'll hurt her worse if she doesn't, but she doesn't because she's tired of giving in to him. Bakugo looks…off, when she doesn't look away. He scorches her desk again, scoffs, and moves back to his desk.

With luck, they'd get out of here soon, she thought as she removes her second copy of her analysis notebook—specifically, and only, about quirks heroes had—from her backpack.

Today is going to be a bad day.

* * *

**Original Author's Note Below:**

**Points to anyone who spotted the reference in this chapter.**

**Bonus points for anyone who's figured out what I'm implying with this reference.**

**Chapter two will be coming in about a month or so (if not earlier), as I am trying to keep on top of this fic ahead of updates. This is the only story I've had the inspiration to write lately, and I'm trying to move the characters on through the first arc so I can *really* get to the meat of this story. I've got about 35k of rough draft so far, but finalizing those chapters takes some time, and I'm trying to stay at least 5-6 chapters ahead of my updates.**

**Updated whenever I have the inspiration to write for it.**


	2. Chapter 2: A Bad Day Gets Worse

**TW: Bakugo canonically tells Izuku to go commit suicide. I have marked this out with (+++) at the beginning and +++ at the end, so if you want to go to the end of it, search for +++ to avoid this scene. I recognize this can be triggering for people and it will be marked clearly and bolded so any of y'all who miss it, you can avoid it or brace yourselves. **

**Bakugo Words TW: Izumi is anxious. These words mean a lot even coming from a bully, to her, and I suspect canon-Izuku was more affected by them than the author showed. This story presents a tonal shift from canon, so Izumi is more realistically affected by being told that she's this worthless. I know canon-Izuku doesn't have this happen, but you may wish to skip to the Toshi PoV chapter when it's uploaded later, because what Bakugo says in *this* AU rattles around in her head for awhile until Toshinori both apologizes and tells Izumi she can become a hero. All points are italicized, marked with (+*) right before it happens and (*+) is where it's safe to start reading again. If anyone is triggered by Bakugo being an abusive asshole, or wishes to stop reading, I want to inform you of this NOW. It's obvious in canon that Bakugo's words had something of an effect on Izuku-look, no sane, normal teenager is that self-sacrificing, and Izuku's self-destructive tendencies are encouraged-and words *hurt*. If you are triggered by ANY of this, please take care of yourself and search for (*+) when you see her thoughts going down that spiral.**

**I promise, Izumi will get therapy for this, but it is *not* kind and Bakugo is *actually* that shitty in canon. There is a reason that I tagged 'Bakugo is his own warning' and this fic is pretty slow to deal with Bakugo being Bakugo.**

**Emetophobia and Drowning TW: at the end of the chapter (marked with *** where she starts drowning) Izumi vomits and passes out. There is also a graphic depiction of what it feels like to nearly drown. DW, she is fine, but if you are triggered by either of these, there is a brief summary of what goes on coming in the next chapter, which is going up later tonight. (++) is right before the puking scene but after the near-death experience.**

**Tl;dr: Take care of yourselves first; this story is interesting and not worth your health. I will post more tags as the story progresses and in chapter summaries.**

* * *

An hour later, class lets out.

Izumi's managed to finish recopying her math homework, which is now back in its binder, safely away from Bakugo's explosions, and is going over her analysis of Mt. Lady again. Since she has time, she goes on the hero forums to double-check her information.

As she suspected, most of the new posts are about Mt. Lady being on scene and Mt. Lady has been given credit for taking down the purse snatcher. Almost no one recognizes Kamui Woods was on the scene prior to her and already readying himself to take down the criminal. She notes in the margins that she needs to do more research while the bell rings.

Most of her classmates race for the doorway. None of them want to be here.

Izumi sticks around, because she's thinking and she really doesn't have anywhere else to be. Sometimes, if she stays here, Bakugo won't talk to her.

trying to come up with something and she really doesn't have anywhere to be. Also, she's kind of hoping for Bakugo to apologize, in his own way, for what he said earlier because sometimes he does. Everything else is already in her backpack when a shadow falls over her desk.

She looks up to see Bakugo's eyes are as icy as they were earlier.

"Listen up, _Deku _," and Izumi feels the ice come back.

It hurts. It really, really hurts. Before she can grab her hero analysis notebook, he picks it up and starts fidgeting with it, tapping it against his arm with this smug look on his face.

"Katsuki, what's that?" one of his idiot friends says, and Izumi feels her mouth go dry—as it's one of his so-called 'lackeys,' one of the guys who thinks Bakugo's going to be No.1 and no one can or should be able to stand in his way.

"Huh, Hero analysis for the future?" he sneers, and Izumi watches the same cold smirk appear on Bakugo's face.

The ice is back, and Izumi has no way to move. She can't even speak, because the ice is coming in _waves _, almost like fury, and beneath it—well, it _hurts _, and she doesn't understand why.

"Seriously?" laughs the black-haired one, smirking.

"Midoriya…" the other one chimes in as Bakugo snorts.

"I-it's fine, isn't it?" she turns to Katsuki "Give it back!"

And then Bakugo loses his smirk, opens his fist to engulf it, and blows it up. Izumi feels it in her chest and for the first time since she came to Orudera, she's _furious _. She bites her tongue, and she doesn't stop herself this time.

Bakugo is looking her in the eye as she glares. He glares right back, as if for added effect, but it's just _not that frightening _, not really. He has to know that by now.

He throws her notebook out the open window.

"What the hell," is the only thing Izumi says, her voice sharper than usual, and she can feel the ice in her _throat _.

She's not mistaken that he glances at her and glances away, is she?

"Most top heroes have stories about them from their schooldays," he starts, as if lecturing her—_ how dare you, _is all Izumi can think, _how dare you use __**what I told you**__to lecture me _— "I want the novelty of being the _only _student at Orudera to make it to UA."

Their school is pretty shitty, sure, but this is taking it a bit far. Izumi bites her tongue, hard, but she doesn't stop glaring at him. It might be pathetic by his standards, but he has to know she's angry now. That has to count for _something—_

_His eyes are like __**ice**__. _

_I'm so happy he doesn't know about my villain analysis notebooks._

He's still talking, but Izumi's heart is pounding too loudly for her to hear him.

Then he puts his hands on her shoulders and Izumi flinches. She can't help herself, nor can she move—she's moved before, it's always hurt—but even so she's never had the courage to look him in the eye before. They're cold. One of his hands goes to encircle her upper arm and another of his friends' hands encircles the other one, squeezing until it bruises. She can feel the heat on her front again, can smell Katsuki burning her uniform and her skin and it _hurts _.

He smiles "Don't apply to UA, nerd," and _wow _does her shoulder hurt, she can _feel _her skin cooking and she knows she'll have a burn there later today.

She stays where she is, biting her lip hard as she tries to think of what to say back.

It's been bad, yeah, but she's always thought—at least before today—that he was trying to protect her. Now, she's not so sure.

"Come on, at least say _something _back," Kaccha—Bakugo taunts, and Izumi has nothing.

She can't look at him. She can't even look his way, can she—but she forces herself to _try _.

"Don't say that. She's pathetic," sneers one of them as Izumi rubs at the half-healed burn from last time he got angry with her. "She still can't face reality."

_Has he always been this heartless?_

Most of the time, Izumi would laugh off whatever they said to her. As far as jokes went they were pretty funny and most of them at least tolerated her for Bakugo's sake. But—but—what if they meant it? Kac—Bakugo, _Bakugo _, she forces herself to call him, always does this. He goes along with the jokes and then he…kinda-sorta apologizes later and sometimes she accepts it, even if she knows it's wrong.

Mrs. Otani's words float back to her; _it's better to be alone than to be with people that hurt you and belittle you just for being you, Izumi-chan. Remember that._

Then All Might's; _if a bully has pushed you into a corner, they feel threatened. Do better. Be better than they are._

She's tried to forgive him.

She's tried to be better.

She can't do this anymore.

_Izumi-chan, _Mrs. Otani's voice whispers again, even though she was _told and told and told _Mrs. Otani was a liar, she holds to this; _You deserve better than friends that hurt you just because you stand up for yourself._

She's tried to do what everyone else said. She's tried to let Bakugo be _Kacchan _(and that ship sailed pretty soon after he started targeting her again), to let Bakugo be the one with the cool quirk and the one who gets to achieve his dreams. She's tried to remember that Mrs. Otani was lying to her about a lot of things, including the fact that she might be able to become a hero through analysis, but—but it's not true, it's never been _true _.

She's pretended it's true for years. Since Mrs. Otani was arrested.

(+++)

"Hey, _Deku _," he says again and Izumi's teeth grit as he puts his hands into his pockets at the door, looking at him. His eyes are warm, friendly even, but there's an undercurrent of—well, _something _and a part of her that sounds very much like All Might whispers _danger _. "If you wanna be a hero that badly, there's a quick way to do it. Take a swan dive off the roof, and _pray _you get a useful quirk in your next life!"

Something snaps in Izumi's chest at the same time as ice fills her veins again, like a cold mountain spring replacing her blood. She can see Endeavor standing where Bakugo is over a quirkless boy not unlike her, remembers the very quick court case and its resolution, and she understands. Bakugo is no hero. He's dangerous—someone who wants to be the best so badly it means he hurts everyone around him just to do so.

_He doesn't care at all _, she realizes, because if he moved two inches to the left he'd be taking out her chest, maybe even permanently with his burns.

He doesn't care if he just incited her to commit suicide.

Then, still laughing, he walks out, her shoulders still burning a little from the heat of his quirk.

He turns and looks at her, a cruel smile on his face, triumph in his eyes when she doesn't respond.

_He doesn't care about collateral._

She almost snaps back at him just to spite him, but her mouth won't form words.

One of his friends turns back when she doesn't answer and Bakugo's smirk drops to a sneer, comes and clamps down extra-long fingers around her arm, squeezing hard against where Bakugo's burned her to the point that it bruises.

She refuses to scream or whimper, and meets Bakugo's eyes.

The ice grows bigger in her chest, shards, and cold sears through her throat, freezing whatever she wanted to say. It hurts. The ringing in her ears doesn't go away.

It will only make him happy to see her cry.

It's what he wants.

He wants to feel like he's better than her. Unequivocally and completely. So he has to make her cry, has to make her see that he's _better _than she is.

_Not today, _the thought comes, viciously and vindictively and Izumi holds onto it with all of her strength. She stares right at him, unaffected, blinking the tears out of her eyes. _Never again._

_**Never again,**_it almost sounds like All Might's voice, but she holds onto it. _**Never again.**_

_You can't hurt me anymore._

Even if it hurts her, even if she cries later she has to stop him here, because if she doesn't he will keep coming after her. If she doesn't, this won't go anywhere good. He's done it before, and he's tried to apologize, too, for—well, being a shitty brat, he calls it, which confuses her but today's _worse _than he's ever been before.

Today he wants her to give up on her _dream _.

If he wants to make her give up and turn back, he won't. She doesn't cry, but it's a near thing, and she doesn't drop her eyes from his. She absolutely refuses to look away. Izumi stares him down instead, her ears ringing as he laughs again, this time more shakily, and start forward.

"What the hell is with those _eyes _, Nerd? I thought I told you _that those damn eyes of yours __**piss me off**_!" he's practically in her face, spitting at her now, and Izumi doesn't look away.

He's tossed her notebook out the window, blown her up, and hurt her and her body is burning but her chest is full of cold. Izumi has no intention of answering him; she just stares him down. When she doesn't answer, he yells, shoves a desk at her and Izumi has to step sideways to dodge a single blast, the shockwave and burn tearing a hole in her shirt (not her chest, thankfully) and searing her side.

Izumi has no idea what possesses her to smile, but she does so. She's shaking and on the verge of tears, but she doesn't look away. She smiles at him instead, like All Might would.

He looks away first.

Bakugo has always, always treated her like this. It shouldn't hurt anymore.

He's just trying to make sure she doesn't get hurt in the long run, everyone says.

It's for her own good, everyone says.

It still hurts. He won't leave her alone.

Pain makes her look down, and she realizes the edge of her shirt is on fire. She beats out the flames numbly before she picks up her backpack, and double-checks that no one got to her other hero analysis notebook, then remembers the one Ka—Bakugo got his hands on is in the pond or blown up or worse. The quirk one is still intact, thankfully, but that's all.

She slings her backpack over burned shoulders, and realizes she has to buy burn cream again. His words ring in her ears. Through her mind.

He'd been nasty to her before whenever he lost his temper.

He's been nasty for awhile, but she hasn't wanted to believe he really, truly hates her, not when he's been _nice _to her at times too.

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

Today he's been downright cruel.

Every day he pushes it a little farther, and today—well. Today, if she'd been anyone else, he might have managed what he wanted. He might've made her give up on everything. He might even have killed her if she hadn't dodged.

The thing is, she can't quite think he _won't _push it too far, especially with how she's being treated by him and his friends these days. Even if he's nice to her sometimes, he's got the rest of the school too afraid to make friends with her.

There's a tickle, almost a kernel of warmth this time in her chest as the ice fades. She doesn't know what it means, it's been there before even when she hasn't had friends and Izumi doesn't _know _what to do with it. But she knows one thing.

She's furious. She's never been quite so angry with him but he's been _lying _to her this whole time. This is too far. He's gone too far. Even for someone with a powerful quirk. But who will believe her if she complains?

Who will believe the quirkless, worthless, _fragile _girl who won't give up on something so ridiculous as becoming a hero? He's trying to encourage her to commit suicide.

What the hell is _wrong _with him? If word got out that he'd incited someone to commit suicide, even if it was a one-off thing he'd said to discourage her from following him, no matter his intentions, he would be tried for _attempted murder _. It would be a black mark on his record that would never go away. He'd at least get off with a charge of manslaughter, and no matter how kind the system is to kids with powerful quirks this is _highly illegal _. He'll never be a hero if he keeps treating people like this.

It isn't the first time he's hit her.

It's the first time he's shown that he's more villainous, more…more coldly driven, than anyone she's ever met. Even his friends follow his lead, as does most of the school. His eyes, earlier and now, are cold as he walks out of the room with his so-called friends, leaving her to collect her things. His heart is as cold as his eyes, frozen to the core, and she hopes he can get help, she really does but she's tired of giving him second chances.

She can't believe she still cares, even a little, after what he's done to her. She can't turn it off, but today—it's too far; no one ever tells someone to kill themselves, even for _their own good_.

"Stupid," mumbled Izumi, rubbing at the tears gathering in her eyes.

It shouldn't still hurt.

She shouldn't still care about him, not after all this time.

Since his quirk had come in and hers hadn't, Bakugo's thought she's worthless and he's destined to be Number One. The best, and strongest, and unassailable hero in the world.

How could she, quirkless Midoriya Izumi, ever measure up to him? Powerful, strong, _loved _Bakugo Katsuki?

She couldn't even try to help him anymore, or—or keep pretending he's just doing this for her own good. Even for someone else's sake, this is going too far.

Aunt Mitsuki would be horrified to hear him say what he'd just told her, Izumi thinks numbly.

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

Her mom has enough to deal with on a daily basis with heroes who try to avoid fees and other charges for being insanely rude to civilians. Complaining to the Orudera faculty had never worked either, and the teachers brushed off her injuries as just 'normal, everyday hazards.' The school nurse had learned not to ask questions after the first time. Most kids with quirks are encouraged to use them, after all.

It's just her luck that Orudera's the only middle school her mom could afford to send her to, with their budget being as stretched as it is, and Izumi's just unlucky enough to have to deal with Bakugo as her classmate. Even if she's thought he wants to be her friend at times, it's—it's conditional on her treating him like he's her superior.

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

The words echo in her ears and chest and it _hurts _.

Even All Might can't stop him from saying it.

Her mom knows that Bakugo's been nasty to her, and that he'd gone from being her friend to one of her worst bullies when Izumi was pronounced quirkless in kindergarten. She pulled Izumi out of school in elementary just to get her away from him. Izumi's therapist believed her, but Mrs. Otani was also indicted for three public charges of going up against the No.2 hero Endeavor, and eventually arrested for her association with a villain. The media turned on kind Mrs. Otani for trying to lobby for a better life for another quirkless kid, and with how quickly the court case had gone, it was Endeavor's word against hers.

Endeavor had won and Mrs. Otani had gone to prison.

That court case taught Izumi a very important lesson.

It taught her that she, even well-meaning, is and always will be powerless against someone with a strong quirk.

It taught her that even if she brought charges against Bakugo, _nothing would actually get done _, because he's a promising hero-to-be and she's just quirkless. And no one sided with the quirkless ones—she's done her research; there are surprisingly few employed quirkless people in the world who don't go into medicine or support.

If you're born with a powerful quirk, with a heroic quirk, you're automatically given a free pass. If you're unlucky, it sucks to be you, and you either end up working in damage mitigation, the medical field, or as a support to the heroes of society. If you want to be a hero, and you have no quirk? Society doesn't have room for someone like that.

Izumi rubs at her face again, trudging over to the koi pond, where she sees fish nibbling at her written analysis notebook. She's too wrung out inside to even think of crying and there is no more ice in her chest. She fishes it out after batting them away, glancing through the pages. Thankfully she'd had the presence of mind to write this one in waterproof pencil, worrying that someone might throw it into the pond if they caught her with it, so it isn't completely ruined like her second to last one was when Mr. Sawada threw it out the window and it landed in the hands of an adventurous rat. She'll still have to recopy it into a new notebook, and dry the pages but she can salvage this one.

Not like her last one, which had been blown to ashes by Bakugo in a fit of rage when she beat him at an arcade game in the beating that followed. That was the first and last time she'd brought a villain analysis book to school with her. She's learned her lesson since then.

A shiver runs down her spine and Izumi is suddenly aware she's not alone. She looks around, and spots Bakugo smiling at her near the gates of the school, but his smile doesn't reach his eyes, just like earlier. He's standing close to the main exit of the school and something is wrong about his expression. It's not a nice smile; he almost looks satisfied and she's seen that expression before.

She doesn't remember where.

_Wrong _, a part of her whispers, that same part that warned her earlier; _wrong-wrong-wrong _.

It's not Bakugo. It's Bakugo but it's _not _, and something's wrong, and she doesn't know what that means.

"Come on, Deku," he says, and it's the thing she needs to make a choice. "We're gonna go to the arcade. Wanna come with?"

She's been invited out with him before, and usually she says she has to go home. The few times she has gone, she's been called Deku and usually teased and ridiculed, but only a little. He's done this especially when he feels bad—and he usually lets her win a few times, too. Which confuses her.

But something about this time feels different.

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

Izumi feels something shift in her chest as she considers it and his words ring in her head again. She's not really sure what she'll do if she ends up disagreeing with him and after she defied him today, after the boy nearly ruined her hero analysis notebook—and then she sees it, something sparking at his side. His hands?

She looks closer.

Bakugo's smile doesn't reach his eyes. They're dark, for a lack of a better way to describe them. If she doesn't look at his smile; if instead she pastes on a smirk, or removes the smile, they look dangerous. They look like they did earlier—like a villain's eyes.

Izumi recognizes those eyes. Even with that smile, paired with them—it's not a good smile, or a nice one. Muscular, the villain who killed the Water Horse duo, had that smile on his face as he looked down at them on live TV. It's a smile that means _superiority _and it screams coldness to her.

_He's never been my friend._

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

Muscular had smiled at the Water Horse duo like that, almost like they were prey. If she goes with him today, she might be making it home after a trip to the hospital. The burns on her shoulders warm as she looks at him, and Izumi almost feels like she's standing in the middle of a storm, staring down Ka-Bakugo.

Her analysis of his quirk runs through her head in an instant.

He might be in possession of a powerful quirk, but she can avoid him and right now, _right now she wants to _; she's small, she's fast, and she's _clever _. And he overlooks that because like everyone else, he sees she's quirkless and thinks _powerless _. He's bought into the whole 'powerful quirk, powerful hero' mentality and even with his explosions he can't catch her. Besides, even if she's wrong, she doesn't know what he wants and she's even more determined not to be caught alone with him. Not this time.

He isn't her friend. She doesn't have to go with him and she really, really doesn't want to.

He has a maximum range of movement of about 300 meters in the span of about ten seconds. Izumi can run almost as fast at a dead sprint, and she's about 10 meters away from him. She'll have a five second head-start if she knows Ka—Bakugo, and he won't start using his quirk on her if she manages to run fast enough because he'll think she isn't interested. She also knows more shortcuts home than he ever will. It's a product of running so fast, and so far, on bad days. He's weighed down by his school bag, and he'll never be able to explain such public quirk use away. She, on the other hand, has _no _such thing to worry about. He also makes a loud boom—one that can be heard several blocks away if he takes off with his quirk _, and _he doesn't have the authority to do so. He's not a pro hero or a hero in training, so he doesn't even have a provisional license, and his explosives aren't projectiles; he can't catch her with them, not like his mother could if she was so inclined. He doesn't work on his speed, so he can't catch her; though he is in great shape and fairly resilient thanks to his quirk.

He's about as fast as she is on the hundred-meter dash, and Izumi's been holding back for the last month or so in gym class. It's been six months since they did the last test, and her stamina's always been better than his. She's in pain, but she can run farther and faster than he can blast, at least right now, and he will have to come up with a landing strategy _and _a way to explain himself if he blows himself up to come after her. Standing at the koi pond, in public, in plain sight of any police officers—one of whom likes to hang out near the school, to catch people speeding or using quirks in public—is a dangerous thing to do.

Even if the police accept it as just playing around, a warning will definitely go onto his public record and that will count against him getting into UA.

He won't risk his potential place at UA to chase her down. If she runs, if she doesn't even _answer _, it's going to infuriate him more. If Izumi gives him an excuse, she'll leave him open to make the same offer again.

Both options are bad.

She can't relax around him, even when they go to the arcade; she's not really been aware of it but she's always been confused about _why _he keeps insisting it's for her own good. He's targeting her; he's after _her _for a reason he won't, he _can't _explain. And while her mother won't be able to win a lawsuit against him, if he's caught making such public use of his quirk, especially since there's a police officer she can run past, to catch her, he'll never get into UA.

And Izumi's tired of holding him up. She's tired of being his target; his punching bag. She's tired of him using her as a stepping stone and measuring stick because he's already so far ahead of her that she has no chance of catching up to him.

He's got an amazing quirk, and he has potential, but he's just rubbing it in her face at this point. Izumi is tired of being his punching bag and she's tired of hoping he'll be nice to her, tired of forgiving him for all the shit that comes out of his mouth.

So Izumi meets his eyes, and holds her sodden notebook up so that he can see it, putting it into her backpack while not breaking eye contact.

And smiles, like All Might would, against a villain, hiding her fear.

She doesn't relax.

She doesn't look away.

She holds his gaze, and she can feel her heart pounding in her ears as a roar and a distant rumble of thunder fills her ears.

She takes off running right after she shakes her head.

"Deku, you fucker, get back here!" echoes past her and she pours on the speed, running toward the crowded Tatooin shopping district near Orudera and blitzing past the police car.

She won't bank on him not following her, but Izumi's had enough.

It still hurts.

Her eyes burn as she runs toward the tunnels home, weaving through the crowds and around corners, running toward the next police officer. So long as they are within sight as she runs away from Bakugo, he can't and won't risk using his quirk. Dodging through the crowds, Izumi is quickly lost, one more person among the masses, by whoever might be chasing her. He can't find her in the mess, and he won't be able to track her since she's had to have her uniform replaced several times. And unless his quirk is composite, he won't be able to track her.

She's had a lot of practice running away. Despite being short and scrawny, if Izumi is anything, it's _fast _. She's spent a lot of her time running away from Bakugo and his bullies; as a child, then at her old school and now as a pastime. Combined with her general ability to _tell _when she's being chased, and her ability to run, she can run for miles and miles. It helps, especially when she feels like crying, and this run is leaving her feeling higher than any other has.

She's stood up to Ka-Bakugo today.

Anxiety and worry melts out of her and into her feet, pounding into the pavement, and it isn't something she can get in trouble for; she doesn't have a speed quirk, even though she's _fast _, and can run a nearly eight-minute mile without a lot of preparation or sleep.

She only knows this because she's stayed up way too late on hero forums before. Nightmares have a way of creeping up on you even when you want to sleep.

Of course, that won't matter a lick if he's allowed to use his quirk, but that's beside the point. She's in public and he can't catch her without his quirk, and he _knows_that. Slipping through crowds is pretty easy for her, too, because Izumi is small for her age, just like her mother was. It's not really much of an asset, but being small and unobtrusive means she can use Bakugo as her baseline and not attract that much attention, even if it's hard to stay muscular.

She knows she's outstripped his mile time, and now she's aiming to outstrip his mile time with his quirk. If she can do that by the time she's sixteen, she'll be on track to becoming the first quirkless pro hero.

She's also good at dodging—again, with practice, keeping Bakugo from grabbing her or burning her in super sensitive spots or dangerous ones when they argue. Misdirection is the easiest part, even though she doesn't really understand why, misdirection and her intuition telling her what to do.

Dodging through the nearest park, Izumi keeps running, feeling like she's risking being followed until she makes it about halfway into the shopping district. There's a police station nearby, so she's as safe as she can get from someone using their quirk in public. Ducking through the Tatooin farmers' market is easy enough, since they don't recognize her here like they do in Musutafu.

She's probably worried Inko by now, but her mom knows Izumi doesn't really get along well with Bakugo, even if he invites her out sometimes and is sort of her friend. Bakugo's the closest thing to a friend she's had in years, and isn't _that _just the saddest thing—Izumi has to run, she can't _think _about this, even though she's in a crowded shopping center. Her eyes burn with unshed tears.

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

She's going to have to avoid him for the rest of the year. Maybe in the coming years, too, and she's going to have to explain to her mom _why _she doesn't want to. That's the last conversation Izumi wants to have with her—especially since her mom's still friends with Aunt Mitsuki. Mitsuki's part of the reason she thought Bakugo was her friend and he's _not _, but he keeps pretending like he's interested when he's over, probably for her mom's sake, and Izumi wants nothing to do with it.

She can't tell her mom. Even her mom wants to believe Mitsuki's promise that Bakugo's doing better, even if it's not true, and now she's got _proof _. But Inko doesn't have many friends and Izumi can't take one of her closest ones away from her.

Izumi's on her own for this one.

She ducks into the next convenience store she sees, near the edge of the shopping district, and buys burn cream, gauze, and medical tape. The cashier doesn't say anything, seeing the burn mark on her shirt, and how part of it's missing in places, and how messed up her hair is. The clerk is a teenager wearing too much makeup and too busy paying attention to her phone, so Izumi gets away with it without needing to count out exact change.

Which is good. She's about 15 yen short of what she needed.

As Izumi walks out of the convenience store, she freezes for a second and a chill runs down her spine.

It's just a creeping bad feeling, but it's all she can do to sense something pelting her way, something that smells awful and is probably bigger than she is from the crashing it's making. Even though it's distant, she runs for the nearest bathroom, and she needs to wash and get changed. And see if she can clean her shirt.

Her phone _pings _and tells her that the Code Blue Hero Alert in the area's still active.

The bus is out, then. She can run home instead of taking the bus. She'll be fine. It's not the first time, and it'll keep her safe, or safer, than she'd be otherwise. Maybe if she goes along Dagobah Beach? Everyone avoids that place, though, so she might get attacked there, too, though even villains don't seem to like it.

Funny. It would be her first choice of hideout if she were a villain, because no one likes it.

She pulls her sodden hero notebook out and begins to pull out paper towels, before hissing, nearly dropping both things to the floor.

She's going to have to deal with the burns first.

Izumi checks the time and mutters a curse. Usually, she's on the bus home by now, unless there's been an incident. This one has to be all over the forums by now, right?

She receives a notification (a hero alert, code red, so not that bad yet) and ignores it, tapping the text icon instead to message her mom.

_"**Hi mom, I took the long way home today. I need to run longer anyway. Today was frustrating."**_

That's an understatement. She feels so stupid, so _angry, _and so hurt about Bakugo and she doesn't know how she's going to explain it to her mom. She wants to cry, but she can't stop now—the minute she does, everything will come crashing down and she can't do that until tonight. If someone hears her, she _knows _Bakugo will deny everything—he always does, and her mom's friendship with Aunt Mitsuki is already a bit rocky.

She doesn't want to think about this at all.

She debates adding in the villain, but decides to tell her mom about it later. Inko worries about her a lot, and Izumi doesn't need to add to her stress. Besides, it's safer than risking getting attacked on her way home and she can explain it later.

_"I'm sorry today was frustrating, Izu. Be safe, and don't run too long! Take the bus if you get too tired. I'll see you when you get home. How about chicken tempura and cold soba noodles for dinner tonight?"_

Izumi almost cries with relief. Her mother doesn't know about the villain yet.

_"**Sounds good to me. See you later!"**_

Izumi puts her phone away and reaches for the bag of supplies she just bought. Bandages, gauze, and cream. Slowly she slips out of her shirt, wincing at the sight of the new, shiny burns on her arms. They're shiny, circular, and at least second-degree, on both counts. The middle of one of them is slightly black, but Izumi doesn't have the money to afford a hospital trip. Her side aches, and the burn is shiny and black around the edges, but it's minor.

She can handle this.

This isn't that bad.

Bakugo's worst burn is on her back, from when she was eight years old and stupid enough to think he'd stop for her. It still aches sometimes, despite her going to the hospital for it then, and Izumi hates it but she won't let it hurt her any more. It's both old and as healed as it'll get, these days. As if to spite her, it twinges again.

The best thing to do is to run the new burns under cold water. She doesn't like it, but this is the easiest part. It hurts, _shit it hurts _, but Izumi is an old hand at this and so she just curses under her breath and deals with it.

She pats the burns dry very gently, because they _hurt _and rubbing at them is the fastest way to make them worse, especially the near-third degree burn. She'll need cold showers for the next week or two, at least. It'll be uncomfortable, but it's better than scalding her burns every time she gets clean. She spreads burn cream onto them almost mechanically, muttering a curse at Bakugo and his stupid need to prove his _superiority _over her.

_What an asshole. _

Once she's bandaged herself up, she tests to see if they'll pull when she runs by doing a quick jog around the bathroom. When they don't, she almost cheers.

She changes shirts rather than leave herself exposed, just in case she has to run in a hurry. Her shirt blowing up on her would be the cherry on top of an already shitty day.

Izumi's shirt says SWEATER in dark purple on mint green (she wears shirts like it to irritate fashion-conscious people and it's _fun _) with dark green sleeves covering down to her elbows and an All Might-themed headband to keep her hair out of her eyes. Her ruined shirt goes into her backpack, folded neatly so as to minimize the chances of it exploding a second time.

Then she takes out her notebook, and begins to methodically press each page dry with paper towels. The water is pretty easy to soak up with paper towels, and Izumi just needs to keep the pages from sticking, to salvage the information. She's lucky she also has a lot of plastic binder dividers and a protective sleeve with her.

Bakugo did this to her to prevent her from ever becoming a hero.

Izumi's tired of this. Her eyes burn and she rubs at them, wiping away tears that have yet to fall. He's not been her friend for years. This shouldn't hurt like it does.

She focuses on her notebook, blinking away tears.

Bakugo might have tried to destroy her dream, but she's not going to let him take it from her.

She slips the protected notebook into her backpack, and is midway through packing the rest of her things up when the room shudders slightly and the smell of rotting flesh and sewer water permeates the air.

_Run, _whispers that same thing that drove her to stand her ground against Bakugo earlier.

She glances at the source of her anxiety—strangely, it's the toilet—jumping in place a little as she shoves her other shoe on. The longer she stays here, the more danger she's in. She's not sure what it is but it might just be a villain and the smell of sulfur is getting stronger. If it's _not _a villain, there's a natural gas leak under the building, so she should still leave.

She doesn't want to get attacked and she sure doesn't want to die.

Thankfully, there's a two-by-four window in the back side of the bathroom, and it's unlocked and slightly open. It's easy to climb up to the top of the windowsill using her arms and the sink, and Izumi bites back a whimper as the movement pulls at her freshly wrapped burns. Getting outside is harder, but she's able to jump to the ground (it's about seven feet up) and lands better than she used to, rolling forward to take the impact at a run.

Everything starts to melt away as she runs out of Tatooin into the pounding of her feet on the pavement.

She goes for the faster, less populated route home, well away from the area of the Hero Alert. She glances at her phone and the notifications as she runs, checking the Hero Alert's area and curses because she's going to have to go a little out of her way to keep away from it, but Izumi's had it with heroes, villains, and quirks today.

She takes the faster route to get out of the Hero Alert area. It's safer and simpler then going the other way and risking running into the villain.

The longer she runs, the closer she gets to home. It's about a six mile trek, even on her shortest route, and to get away from the Hero Alert area she's going to have to run seven or eight miles. She's going to have to loop around near Dagobah Beach, even if her mother doesn't like the area, because it's easier to get out of the Hero Alert area and away from danger that way. That slime thing, earlier—yeah, no, Izumi wants _no part _of that mess.

She can't deal with that on top of an already shitty day.

She slows to a jog as she enters the underpass, avoiding the pedestrian bridge above because that screams danger and she can't handle people pitying her right now. She pauses in the middle of it, taking a few breaths, and hears something. She freezes, listening and then suddenly she has a warning blare through the back of her mind as the smell hits her again, strong enough to nearly make her vomit.

_DANGER-RUN-NOW_

Izumi _bolts _as the manhole cover behind her practically explodes with the smell of sulfur and an ominous laugh fills the underpass behind her.

She's never run so fast in her life, and she feels like she's flying.

She isn't quite fast enough to make it out of the underpass before the villain catches up to her, slime-body surging around her to restrain her even as she struggles to keep moving forward. Izumi scrabbles at it, struggling to make it give way and trying to scream as it taunts her, whispering that a puppet like her will make for such a_nice _and easy hiding place. She can't breathe, and she can't move and she's _choking—she can't breathe—it's laughing at her as she dies._

It makes her angry.

She coughs and splutters and struggles to get a grip, but it's drowning her. Her arms are growing weaker and she can't even get a grip on it and she's going to die. _ She is going to die._

_No! NO NO NO NO NO!_

_I DON'T WANT TO DIE!_

_**I WON'T DIE TODAY!**_

She feels it then. The faintest of warm glimmers in her chest, like a spark, as a figure runs towards her. Warmth stretches through her chest, concern and fury and something else she can't recognize and Izumi's caught up in a rush of power that feels like she's got the ocean surging at her back beneath an enormous typhoon. Her vision starts to go dark as she struggles for air, but she can feel the warmth pushing at it, and she doesn't know what to think, doesn't know if she's dying or not—_ she reaches out—_

"Detroit SMASH!" yells a familiar male voice through the tunnel, and suddenly the thing is forced backwards.

Izumi topples head over heels forward and flops down on her stomach, landing hard on her injured side. The movement jars her burns, and it's all Izumi can do not to scream as the bubble fades to be replaced by intense pain, and her head feels fuzzy, like she's just gotten her sinuses all plugged up. She can breathe, but the wind is knocked out of her anyway, and she feels _very _sick.

Warmth pulses through her once. It feels like a distant, giant hug, like a star is holding her close, and then her head begins to pound.

The sudden addition of intense pain in her head to the pain in her burns is almost too much, and on top of that, her stomach is turning just from the smell of the villain. She can still taste it in her mouth and the back of her throat and Izumi wants to scream and take seventy showers because _it is so fucking gross—it came from the sewers _—and she's going to be sick.

Izumi heaves herself to her knees, looked up blearily at twin yellow tails of hair rising over a familiar, smiling chiseled face. The grin is warm, and she is safe. Dizziness hits her as she manages to get to one knee and one foot, and she sways. Her eyes flit in and out of focus and she can't move; her side aches where Bakugo burned her and she's having trouble breathing. She tries to get to her feet, and the dizziness and nausea overtakes her.

(++)

She pukes on his shoes, barely catching herself on trembling and burning arms, and the world goes black as she passes out, just missing the puddle of sick on her way down.

* * *

**So, what did y'all think? I think I tagged for the TWs pretty well but I'm not 100% sure. LMK if there is one I missed. **

**A reminder: (+*) is right after Bakugo being an asshole in her thoughts.**

***** is the beginning of the drowning/puking scene (I tried not to make it too graphic, I am a little emetophobic myself.)**

**+++ is the end of the scene where Bakugo tells Izumi to go kill herself.**

**A General Note on Bakugo: I am not nice to him at the start of this story. I will not apologize for being true to his character, because as in canon, he starts out as an abusive bully. Pre-UA Bakugo is not a good person, though I do think he's been conditioned to act the way he does. There is a reason I tagged TW: Pre UA Bakugo for this fic after updating, and it's not because I condone his actions. I think Bakugo needs to be removed from the situation he's in, either with Izumi transferring out of the school or Izumi avoiding him like the plague, or for him to be pulled out of Orudera, to really understand how bad things are between them. I AM NOT CONDONING HIS ACTIONS, I am simply exploring WHY he might take them later in this story.**

**In canon, he starts making positive changes after befriending Kirishima and realizing he's not the top dog at UA-and to become a hero, he's going to *have* to be better. I also think that given how they as a whole look down on Izumi, he assumes, like most kids, that if the adults do it then it's okay. Orudera Middle nearly ruined him as a person. And yes, don't worry, once I involve Toshinori, things are going to change very fast regarding Bakugo Katsuki.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Boy in the Underpass

**Toshinori shows up! **

**This kid is impressive. Also, Toshinori's pretty oblivious to a lot, but he's not that oblivious-and he does know not to slap awake someone who might be concussed.**

**Toshinori is also observant. And he knows what he's seeing is not normal for a kid.**

**Credit to Orcus for helping me edit this chapter!**

**Fear not, for All Might is here!**

**Yeah, I don't have any TWs in this section, but in the next chapter Izumi's going to have some spirals again; just be aware, it's more of the same stuff as last chapter. This entire thing is Toshinori's first impression of Izumi and yes, I know it's long but it's also his first interaction with her. I was really happy to see All Might looking at Izuku's hero notebook in a flashback! So this is more canonical than I expected it to be thanks to the rewatch showing me that little scene.**

**Oh, and running through a sewer wrecks your clothes, something the anime absolutely didn't cover. And brief mentions of worrying over this poor kid having passed out on him. (Toshinori is _very_ aware of his strength.)**

* * *

Toshinori doesn't really know what to expect of the kid he's just saved from the slime villain, exactly. He's obviously dressed like he just came from school, but the headband and shirt show he's exercising. Odd, as most children at his apparent age tend to avoid underpasses like this, but maybe it's a shortcut on his running route. He looks to be in decent shape, so the kid probably runs by here a lot.

Toshinori picks him up carefully and rinses his shoe off with what remains of his water.

Once out in the sun, he recognizes the headband as one from his newer line. The kid's a fan boy of some kind, and a small one; curly green hair and a sort of innocent face with freckles puts this kid at maybe twelve, at the oldest. He's also a little sweaty, like he's been running, and his collapse—well, Toshinori had actually expected him to collapse sooner.

The kid managing to nearly get back up after nearly dying was pretty damn impressive.

Less impressive was the green-haired kid puking on his shoes. Given that he's just been drowning, and is probably in at least some pain from how he twisted and fell earlier, Toshinori's willing to put that down to shock and exhaustion. Maybe a bit of both, since the kid doesn't have an obvious quirk—his quirk probably would have defended him if he could use it, but maybe he couldn't use it effectively against a slime-bodied villain. Most heroes couldn't have lasted against that thing. The villain is now safely contained in his pants' pockets in a bottle, and Toshinori can't just leave the kid out here—it's not safe to let someone sleep outside, alone.

Even if his time limit is getting closer, he can't help himself. He can't just leave a kid out here in the rougher part of Musutafu district all alone, especially not one who's just nearly drowned. And if he didn't have to be absolutely sure the villain didn't know his secret, Toshinori would've turned himself right back into his smaller form right now to make sure the kid makes it out alright—but he has no idea if the villain is partly awake or faking it, to see what information he can get on the No.1, so he can't risk it.

In the sunlight, Toshinori is surprised to see that the kid's injured. Not badly, but there are some noticeable bruises, including a fading yellow one around his left eye like he's been hit in the face, recently. It bothers him, and he's not really sure why.

Kids get into scrapes all the time. The boy probably got the bruise training, for goodness' sake, or got into a fight or tried to prove himself. But it looks more direct, harder to block, than a hit from training, and Toshinori finds himself swallowing hard at the sight of the kid's forearms. Maybe he's been training, but it doesn't look like _all _of this is from training.

The boy is wearing a green shirt with sleeves that cover down to his elbows, though they were pushed up slightly by the villain, with the word SWEATER in dark violet lettering across the front. It's a little amusing, and it makes Toshinori smile a bit more at the thought of someone like Tsunagu seeing it, but he loses his smile when he sees the burns.

The kid's got old, shiny burn scars covering his forearms, some of them in explosion-like markings, and fresh bandages visible just beneath his shirt on the left. Like he's been burned there more than once. Those, and the brightly blue-purple, band-like bruise wrapping around the kid's left arm just above the elbow, really draw Toshinori's attention. All these burns can't be from _his _quirk or he'd have used the quirk against the villain when he was attacked (the kid hadn't _seemed _that tired, at least not to begin with), which means someone else is hurting him.

He might have gotten into a fight, like most kids his age in training, or he's being hurt by someone else.

It reminds Toshinori of his own childhood, and it tugs at his heartstrings a little. He can't afford to care this much right now—or ever, really, he's All Might so he has to care about everyone but keep them at arm's length—but a part of him does, anyway, and he wishes he hadn't knocked the kid out. He wishes he could help the kid, or help him stop it from happening at least, but he shouldn't. He _can't _anyway, not with his time limit as it is.

He'll talk to Naomasa about it, later, to make sure it's not the kid's family doing this. Just to be sure, because parents are both easily able to hurt them and a parent is very hard to escape from, especially an abusive one. He's seen too many abuse cases not to know that.

Belatedly, Toshinori realizes the kid's backpack is empty. And there's a bunch of stuff scattered all over the underpass, when he looks back. The kid looks desperately like he could use a bit of a break, and he really, really doesn't deserve to have his stuff thrown everywhere just because Toshinori caught him at the wrong angle of a Detroit Smash. With the injuries, and with how fast the kid passed out almost immediately, Toshinori doesn't want to risk slapping him awake. Who knows what kind of internal damage he has, and if he's concussed, and Toshinori isn't careful, he could hurt the kid even _more _.

Naomasa's words float back to him, then; _Toshinori, you of all people know kids who get hurt regularly won't trust __**anyone**__who resorts to violence around them._

He decides against slapping the kid awake, even though he certainly could, and should, if he wants to avoid going over his time limit. It won't hurt him that much to go a few minutes over though, and he doesn't want to risk hurting the kid anymore than he already has. Toshinori decides he'll give it a few minutes and let the kid rest before he calls an ambulance.

Poor kid's probably exhausted. Drowning's a pretty crappy thing to have happen to you on your run home, and vomiting afterward—well, Toshinori won't blame him for that. It definitely looks like the kid could use more sleep. And if those explosion burns are part of it, he might even have been puking from pain—though Toshinori really hopes that's not it.

Toshinori first looks for a few bushes, and carefully cleans his shoes. Thankfully it was mostly water—the kid didn't have much in his stomach, which was probably good, and the rest of it is pretty much impossible to see around the sewer water stains. Or smell; Toshinori is going to have to trash these clothes. He looks for his cell phone after that, to call in the capture and set up a meeting with Naomasa so he can change back faster.

If he can get to a less crowded area or even back under the underpass, he can go turn the villain in without the media noticing where he is. He curses when he realizes his phone's still in the police station, left there because he was just going to get groceries. Doubtless Naomasa noticed the Hero Alert Code Blue, and that he was caught on TV trying to deal with it, so he's probably gone to pick up Toshinori's groceries and is most definitely holding onto his cell phone. He doesn't deserve it, but Naomasa has argued him into it and—well, it does make his life easier, not to have to pay for his groceries twice or three times over.

Not for the first time, Toshinori wishes he still had the habit of carrying two phones; one for himself and one for his "quirkless secretary," Yagi Toshinori. But the days when he can afford that kind of work, and working with others, are long behind him. These days he can't easily work with a hero agency as All Might publicly with additional heroes working under him, and he works as a secretary at his own, but the staff there all know he works odd hours and is working closely with All Might to prepare for his teaching at UA. Given that All Might works odd hours too, any of his sidekick heroes end up expecting not to work too closely with 'the big man' and are there mostly to boost their resumes and get recommendations.

It's a little sad, really, but he can't say he blames them. He's in decline and he'd rather not let anyone connected to his nemesis know the truth, which means working more closely with the police as Toshinori and doing mostly paperwork. That means his hero agency doesn't accept a lot of younger heroes, even if he would rather they do, and he primarily works the PR angle instead.

They won't be surprised if he disappears for a few hours. He does work odd hours, and since he's working disabled, he has to be careful. Any visiting young hero might notice and put two and two together—he knows Ingenium has figured out _something's _wrong, but not what, and he hopes it's just Ingenium that thinks that, at this point. And definitely not Endeavor; as the Americans say, _fuck that guy _—he'd take advantage of Toshinori's injury to become the No.1 in an instant and immediately reveal Toshinori to a group of villains.

Tsukauchi was going to get a second visit from him tonight, if he didn't come pick up the villain. Damn. He could've really used the phone right now because his side is starting to really ache. Going back to the underpass, with a glance at the unconscious kid, Toshinori picks up several items; a cell phone in a green case with a cracked screen, lighting up with a hero alert (from a forum site Toshinori recognized), several notebooks, and a binder holding a notebook in a plastic sleeve. The notebook is sodden and burned, and really, it looks almost beyond salvation. The words, though, are written in waterproofed pencil, and the title is blurred, but he can make it out if he squints a little.

_Hero Analysis For the Future No. 13._

Well. That looks interesting.

It and the plastic cover it's in shows Toshinori he's definitely dealing with a kid who's either being bullied or having his dreams discouraged. There's no way this kid would just expect his notebook to be damaged like this and come prepared for it if he's not had it happen before. He's definitely done the right thing in not slapping the kid awake.

Toshinori slides it out very gently, and flips the notebook open with a flick of his wrist, unsurprised to see the plastic separators, and does his best not to disturb them. It falls open to a page near the end titled Mt. Lady in blurry, waterproofed pencil. Then he reads the page covering Mt. Lady, her quirk and what it entails.

The analysis is surprisingly detailed and linked with her appearance in the incident this morning, which is broken down pretty quickly and simply on the page. The writing is blurred, faded, and scorched in a few places—the fire quirk of the person who hurt this kid, perhaps, or an accident, but given the burn scars he's going with the fire quirk—but he can still read it. The page covers a detailed analysis of Mt. Lady's quirk, her motivations and brief appearances as a rescue hero prior to this, her strategy this morning and what her new outfit will mean for her from a public relations standpoint. The analysis of the morning incident is a full breakdown of her moves, her strength and speed, and how she handled the media.

And _holy shit _, it's impressive. Toshinori finds himself wondering if Sir might actually like the kid—and winces, putting the thought aside. He's not really looking to recommend anyone to work with Sir, not right now.

And yet, every question, every reservation the kid has about Mt. Lady, even her use of her sexuality, on the page is cited with evidence. There's even a 'research this later' note that is referring to a scorched bit of text on the page.

It's really, _really _impressive work for someone still in middle school. If this kid were to become a pro, underground or not, Toshinori would be more than happy to work alongside him. This kid also has the vocabulary of a _college student _. He can't be any older than fourteen with how small he is, and he's writing like a university student with advanced knowledge of quirk biology. Hell, Toshinori wouldn't be surprised if in a few years he got published, even if anonymously, in a journal of some kind. Or maybe started a blog of his own?

Though from the looks of things the kid's studies aren't exactly being supported by someone in his life. The pro isn't sure who, but he makes a note of it, anyway. Tsukauchi, at least, would appreciate having someone to talk to about quirks and how to best contain them in the future nad Toshinori resolves to put in a good word for the kid at the station. The police are always scouting for talent like this.

Toshinori carefully slides the plastic sheets back between the preserved pages and then puts the notebook back into the sleeve as best he can, and then in the boy's backpack, feeling a little like he intruded on the kid's privacy. It was clear that the thoughts, however blurred and messed up they were, were private—not meant for someone else to read, especially not him.

But he was curious, and Gran Torino would have said _nosy _, too. He winces a little, thinking of his mentor hitting him again as he looks over the kid.

Toshinori should have checked the kid, first, and more carefully. What he sees now is more disturbing.

The fresh burn cream (something Toshinori purchases in bulk, these days, especially after working with Endeavor on multiple investigations) and hero-grade gauze that fell out of his bag are very obviously wrapped around the kid's burns. Both are fresh, too, judging from the way the wrappings are crumpled up in the kid's bag, and there's also a crumpled-up burned shirt with holes in it. The shirt (well, it has an over-shirt, too) shows extensive damage from heat-based quirks. Or one heat-based quirk. There are holes burned in the fabric in the exact spots where the kid's been burned, as well as the buttons appearing to be melted to the fabric in the front, and there are more old holes that have been repaired, sewn together by hand or with patches. It's obviously part of the uniform for Orudera Middle, a local public school about fifteen minutes away by bus. Toshinori's seen some of their students around, and that means the kid is at least twelve if he's going there. The kid's burn marks are also in a pattern—protecting vital organs. He recognizes them because he's gotten them before, fighting fire-quirk villains and villains who can set off remote explosives. They're definitely deliberate; no one has a ring of bruising around his upper arm for fun, and some of those are too strong for them to be from any sort of quirk sparring.

He's small, but Toshinori suspects he's thirteen or fourteen, not twelve. Probably just a late bloomer.

The whole shirt smells faintly of smoke and sulfur and the area around the burns is slightly oily. The smell makes Toshinori feel a bit nauseated—if he still had a stomach, it would have turned from the smell alone. It's sickly sweet, like the oil was mixed with sweat first. That explains the burn scarring all over the kid's arms, and that isn't painting a pretty picture for Toshinori, regardless of what this kid's quirk is. It's clearly not quick healing, because he wouldn't need to invest in gauze and burn cream (the pro hero brand, no less, rated for both treating and numbing burn pain) if it was. He also notes that the white button-down shirt has similar holes, and a few scorch marks, all of them smelling like the faintly sick-sweet, lotion-like substance that covers part of the overshirt, which is damaged or thinning in those spots. He collects the last of the kid's school supplies, and pulls a spare piece of paper out of the kid's school notebook, figuring he could at least be nice and sign it for him to keep—and maybe put in a new notebook. He'd have signed the old one, but it was ruined, probably beyond repair even with the waterproofed pencil used to write on the pages. The paper isn't waterproof, or fireproof, but it's what he has available. This, he tucks into one of the spare plastic sleeves, and almost does a double-take when he sees the boy waking up.

Quickly putting everything into the kid's bag, Toshinori waits, hovering over the kid for signs of a concussion. He wouldn't be able to keep going with the villain capture if he'd injured the kid (and he'd never forgive himself if he made the burns or other injuries worse). He's never been the type of hero to be okay with civilian injury in his line of work.

(And, he quietly thinks, the day he meets the person who's been hurting this boy, he's going to make sure they stop.)

The kid's eyes are unfocused when he first opens them (and dear gods, how old is he? That looked a middle schooler's jacket in his backpack, but the kid is so _short _) and blinked. For a moment, unfocused as they are, his eyes are the warm, welcoming color of the sunset (like Nana's were), and Toshinori feels a part of his own…soul, for lack of a better word, settle and warm. One for All hurts him just a little bit less in their light, and the kid's eyes are glowing just a little bit. Then green floods out the amber, and the kid's eyes focus.

The warmth doesn't fade, though Toshinori's utterly relieved that he didn't really hurt the kid after all. And, _holy crap _, the kid is actually a little _cute _—fluffy green hair and all. He'll have girls falling over themselves to ask him out in a few years.

"Ugh," groaned the kid, as Toshinori wipes his shoes a second time on the bush. "Ow. My head," he rasped, coughing, and spitting out—oh shit, that was blood? His lips were a little red. _Fuck _, Toshinori better not have cracked his ribs. "Fucking _damn _it, that hurst," the kid hisses in an alto voice, pressing a hand to his ribs like Toshinori's broken them.

_Shit, shit, shit, __**shit**__._

Toshinori almost splutters in surprise, because that sounds wrong coming from someone who looks almost like a grown version of a child. If child he is, because he's…skinnier than Toshinori would have liked. Thin, but not frail.

The panic faded when the kid looked at him blearily, rubbing his eyes and revealing cracked lips and a bloody tongue swiping at what looks like bleeding gums, either from impact or from biting his tongue too hard. Toshinori very nearly breathes a sigh of relief, because he hasn't broken the kid's ribs and he did it _right _, but he's still worried. He hadn't seen the injuries before or he'd have used a bit less power, and he hopes none of them get infected from this because the kid _will _need to go to the hospital if they do.

If he'd known the kid was injured, he'd have been a lot more careful about just smashing the villain.

God, he'd sent the kid _flying _, the chance that he had a cracked rib was _insanely high _and Toshinori—needed to focus on the kid right now, and not worry about other collateral. He'd hit harder than he intended when he realized the villain was about to kill a _child, _and the kid was going to suffer for his rash decision-making.

As usual, Gran Torino would say, and Toshinori wants to cringe when the kid looks at him. He's the reason the kid's got bleeding gums and he's the reason the kid's hurt and _he sent him flying _. Toshinori's going back to his first month of training all over again after this; he never wants to hurt the people he saves, and he's usually so _careful _. He can't believe he hurt the kid so badly.

Though the burns—God, he hopes he hasn't made them worse.

"Oh shit," the kid went pale as he looked at Toshinori's shoes. "Oh _no, _I'm so sorry," he got to his feet and immediately bowed "Al—All Might, I'm so sorry! I—I, it's been a really b-b-bad day a-and," he stammered, looking horrified, because of _course _this kid was feeling guilty for…what, exactly? "I-I'm so s-sorry, I didn't mean to!"

What is the kid apologizing for?

Fighting back? Getting up and showing more grit than Toshinori's seen in most kids his age against a villain that was trying to _kill _him? Surviving drowning?

Wait, no. He'd puked on Toshinori's shoes before he passed out. He's probably feeling guilty about that, judging from the amount of worry he's spewing out about puking on a hero and _oh god why me _, and that, well. Toshinori can relate to that. He puked all over Nana when she saved him, all those years ago, and he'd been_horrified _about it then.

He isn't now, not anymore.

It's hardly the first time someone's puked on Toshinori. Life and death situations have this tendency to catch up with people in the aftermath, and a drowning victim puking is about as surprising to him as a burn victim screaming in pain. It's the body finally giving in and getting rid of whatever is hurting it.

Sometimes all over the hero that just saved them. He's lost so many costumes to shit like that that it doesn't matter anymore.

He hopes the boy didn't get vomit because he's hurt somewhere inside. But he can't afford to really check the kid out, and he curses himself for not checking over when the boy was unconscious. He didn't want to make anything worse, but Toshinori's leery of being too in-your-face to someone injured, as well.

More often than not, that ends with a broken nose.

"Not to worry, young man!" Toshinori doesn't know what to do but cut him off, and the kid chokes a little on his words, looking almost disbelieving. He picks up his backpack, awkwardly, and Toshinori wonders what he's messed up here. "It happens, especially when one is drowning! You haven't offended me!" He gives the kid a smile and a thumbs-up "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to deliver him to the police station!"

With that, he turns and jumps into the air, aiming for the police station. If he gets back quickly enough, Tsukauchi can help him find somewhere to deal with his change and the villain will be in custody.

And then a weight on his leg makes him realize he's picked up a passenger. This kid must be suicidal. Toshinori turns to yell at him to let _go _, because it's going to make flight so much harder, and is more than a little ashamed when the kid screams back that if he lets go _he will literally die _, and _God _, Toshinori is an idiot. The kid's right—he's not durable and his quirk likely means he's not able to withstand a lot of physical damage (which makes the burns all the more concerning), and Toshinori sometimes forgets how hard it is to just stay focused up here in the wind. Let alone _land _. This kid's grip is _insane _considering he's barely holding on, and with an internal sigh, Toshinori adjusts his movement so he's holding the kid by the shoulders.

He has to ignore the faint gasp of pain because he's not about to let this kid land hard on the sidewalk just because he made _one _poor choice. It even gives him the chance to find out if he's seriously hurt the kid, though Toshinori doesn't want to bring him along at all. He wants to take the kid home. To tell him to stay out of villain-fighting because he can't watch the boy (so much like Nana, something in his eyes is _so familiar_) run into danger.

But Toshinori is running out of time, and he's going to have to figure out a place to land, because he can feel the blood moving between his teeth.

Today really isn't his day.

He should have expected this to happen. Sir Nighteye's going to be furious, but Toshinori can't help it. He's a hero, and that means he's doing his duty, regardless of how much it costs him later.

* * *

**Toshinori is a very matter-of-fact hero, as I'd imagine from someone who's been on the job for literally decades. Still, he's impressed by this kid. Izumi didn't plan on any of this at all-including the flight, haha. **

**And he also has issues with the burn scars. As Toshinori is actually a Responsible Adult, he's naturally pretty worried about those. (Also, All Might canonically ends up afraid a lot, and that's part of why he smiles. So I tried to channel that here.)**

**Also, Toshi being worried about internal injuries is a thing-sometimes when you're sick, it's indicative of something worse being wrong with you. He's not right, not here, but he IS right to worry because some injuries aren't obvious and can make you sick.**


	4. Chapter 4: A True Hero

**Izumi has several hard conversations. And her bad day gets exponentially worse, as usual.**

**But she makes a difference, and it's enough. It has to be.**

**Meanwhile, Toshinori has made a giant mistake...one he almost doesn't realize in time.**

**So, quick disclaimer: I promise this is one of the saddest chapters in this story. Yes, I know, MHA has a lot of underlying sad themes, but this one is especially bad.**

**Featuring angry Izumi and pros making mistakes.**

**Also, yes, Toshinori is having a bad day too; it's one reason he overlooks some of her good qualities. Try to give him a chance-he means well! I think he does in the actual series, too; he just makes mistakes. **

**TW: there is one scene in this chapter where Toshinori pukes up blood. If you look for (-Warning:, that's where it starts. (*X*X*X) is the end of it. Skip to the end notes for a brief summary of what goes on.**

**Additional TW from last chapter. (+*) is where the words Bakugo yelled at her start in her thoughts, and (*+) are the end. Again, they won't stick around, but she's yet to hear anything different from the people in her life.**

In retrospect, grabbing onto All Might as he jumped into the air to take the slime villain to the police station was probably one of her worst plans, ever, in a million years, but she was desperate. Like, on the list of shitty plans for getting answers, for, she doesn't even know, _this is the top of the list, Izumi, what the fuck?_

But she needs answers, and something in her told her to jump.

So she did.

It was impulse—her hands and legs had moved on their own. She still doesn't know why she did it but something was glinting in All Might's eyes when he looked at her—something like _pain _.

She can't let go of this chance. She made a dumb decision, she knows that. But if she lets go of this she lets go of all chance she has of getting _answers _and she wants answers.

The hero proceeds to have a yelling match with her in midair about holding onto him and Izumi yells right back at him (because if he drops her she will literally die), but it also makes her see him as—human. Even pros mess this stuff up, and it reminds her that he's used to people who are durable; it's why he didn't check her ribs, which are aching from earlier, and with the wind in her face and eyes she feels like flying. She feels _weightless _and that strange feeling, like an intense storm, from earlier is urging her on.

The ocean is crashing through her veins and it leaves her higher than any pain ever has.

She's actually a little bit mad at him for calling her _young man _, too, so yelling at All Might is pretty easy. He's handling it pretty admirably since she made one of the dumbest decisions ever and Izumi's never been more mortified than this. He's aiming for, at least she thinks, a building. A nearby mall building, at that.

Probably to drop her off.

Her grip falters and she nearly falls off.

Then he grabs her shoulders. She can't help gasping in pain because he's holding her burns, but he's _also _making a concerted effort not to drop her to die and go _splat _ on the concrete. Izumi is suddenly terrified she's about to fall and wraps her arms around his leg tighter, feeling him slowing, because this is both one of the dumbest decisions of her life and the most dangerous.

(If she were a villain, she'd take aim for him from a far off building, she thinks, as he aims for a building nearby. She's probably just made him a huge target, because he's slowing down to hold onto her and he's even adjusting her grip on her, and that really makes her feel bad.)

She didn't know if he'd noticed her injuries, but he hadn't slapped her awake, and he'd been hovering over her for a bit there, too. Probably checking to see if she was concussed, since he'd blown her forward when he took out the villain (and that also screamed _accidental _but…All Might never made mistakes, right? Except he did. He had with her, twice, already. Izumi's head still kind of hurts thinking about it).

Since she's clear-headed, Izumi wrote the weird fuzziness in the back of her mind and the feeling that she's riding a storm off as temporary exhaustion (due to nearly dying) and flying with All Might, and does what she can, what she _has _to, to get answers.

She has _so many questions _and he is the only one who can answer her.

He's the only one who could even try.

She doesn't regret following her instincts, though she regrets the ride as soon as she's managed to grab onto his leg, because it makes one of her ribs hurt like _hell _, and that meant she's probably hit the ground too hard. Bruised, not broken, unless she was mistaken and she's hoping she isn't. It isn't deadly, and it wasn't a danger to her so long as she didn't let go. If she let go, she'd be an Izumi pancake.

Izumi, contrary to what most people think of her, Bakugo included, doesn't_ actually _want to die.

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

Izumi grits her teeth and blinks the tears out of her eyes, which are burning. She can't help herself. She won't do what he says.

_She won't give him that satisfaction _, because he's never been her friend, he'd never want her to die if he was, and that means he's _not _.

Granted, she isn't really looking to jump onto and off of All Might's leg, but she'll take what she can get. She thanks whatever gods are out there that she's not too close to his foot and she can avoid her own puke, which, gross, is now falling all over the streets below—oh, shit, she's really, really far up. He's going to have something of a harder time landing but she can't help that.

She travels over six miles with him before All Might finally sets them down on a rooftop, and she scrambles off his leg as he lands, struggling to understand what she's just done, shaking and trying not to throw up a second time. Her ribs ache and suddenly her left side is on fire, like something's torn and she really hopes she doesn't have to go to the hospital.

Then she looks him in the eye, and realizes something's…wrong, with All Might.

His features are a little sunken in, compared to earlier, and his face—that's not healthy; his eyes are very sunken-in and the irises are almost glowing, brightly, as if with his Quirk. He used to have whites, but his brow's gotten more prominent over the years. Five years ago, she stopped being able to see his eyes altogether on camera, as did the world. His sclera have been darkening too, but she's never seen them go _black _, not like they look now, and there is a bit of blood at the corner of his mouth.

Yeah, his eyes are black. That's abnormal.

Is he bleeding? That's blood in his teeth.

Did—did she do this?

Immediately she knows it's not her. Something else is hurting him.

There's a tickle of warmth in her chest again. Izumi can't explain it, it's almost like sparks, waiting to burst into flame, and something is _definitely wrong _with All Might. She can't help herself; she's worried, and she's reaching for her backpack and water bottle before she can really explain it.

As if that will help, somehow.

"What did you want to ask me that was so important, young man?"

Also, she's getting really tired of him calling her a boy. She's _not _a boy.

Seriously, is he blind?

No—he's probably just too focused on his job to notice. Izumi's a little disheartened to hear that he can't even bother to look at her closely enough to tell, but she thinks she understands. She's wearing boy's clothing, or what's almost boy's at least. His eyes, though, are warm—warm, and almost more so, and she feels a little better seeing that. He probably hasn't checked her over completely, and she's a pretty masculine-looking girl, since she keeps her hair short and hasn't developed yet.

Part of that is her insomnia. Part of that is that she can't ever sit and eat a meal outside, so she just can't have lunch, ever. Not with how many of her bullies track her down at lunch. Bakugo's never done that to her, but that's the only time he doesn't try to find her.

She's taken to just scarfing down as much food as she can before they find her at school, and it's still not enough for the day. That's probably part of why she's so dizzy right now, come to think of it.

Her burns ache, and her rib hurts, but not as badly as it did when it was broken. Bakugo had broken her ribs once before, and this isn't like that. It isn't broken or she'd have a lot more trouble breathing than she does right now. But it still hurts, a _lot _. She should probably get it checked out, but she can't focus on that.

"I-I-I-I w-wanted to ask if it was possible to become a hero like you, w-without a-a-a quirk."

She curses her stutter, but it's all she can do to force the question out.

(-Warning: All Might retching-)

All Might stares at her, but is silent, for a long moment. He opens his mouth to answer, and instead vomits _blood _, retching, as Izumi feels something punch her in the stomach, or slightly above, and her lungs burn a little as if she can't get enough air. She doesn't double over, but it's a near thing—is this sympathetic pain?

_Why does my side hurt?_

The tickle is back, the warmth sparking again, and she stares at him in horror, trying to understand what just happened and is incredibly grateful that she isn't squeamish.

She abruptly feels ill, almost like she should have puked with him and the world blurs around her for a moment. Her stomach roils and churns again even though it's empty and she's not going to be eating anytime soon.

(*X*X*X)

The feeling passes, but it takes a little time, and her head feels a little fuzzy again, the tickle of warmth fading and it feels like someone's stuffed cotton in her ears all over again. The world is quieter, more muffled again, and Izumi doesn't know _why _as suddenly the world comes back into focus.

A tired tickle of warmth sparks in her chest again as All Might makes an aborted move forward, coughing, and vanishes in a puff of…steam? Smoke, maybe—no, steam, because it's dissipating too fast to be smoke. And he'd been really, really warm when she touched him earlier.

The man standing before her is—and isn't—All Might. Except he looks hurt, and he's gaunt and frail and _sickly _and Izumi feels sick. She makes a startled sound before she can help herself, wishing she could help and knowing she can't, just by looking—not right now. He's skinnier than anyone she's ever seen, healthy or dying, his clothes hanging off him, and his face is gaunt and thin.

He looks like a stiff breeze could blow him right over.

He could be dying. He sure doesn't _look _healthy and it makes her worried all over again because she's never seen anyone look so _defeated _before, and—holy _crap _, he looks awful.

The tickle of warmth remains in her chest, though, and Izumi makes an aborted move to help him when he nearly falls over, but he catches himself first on the railing. His hands are _huge _, almost disproportionately large, but she remembers All Might is very, very tall, and even slouched he's at least a meter and a half taller than she is. She must look comically tiny right now.

She doesn't even think she can scream.

Probably a good thing. Her side burns too much for that to be a good idea.

"Ah…All Might?" manages Izumi, struggling to keep her voice level, because she doesn't want to make this worse. "What…what happened?"

He switches to English, grasping at his side, and shook his head, mumbling what was probably something dirty. She's fairly good at English, but she only catches one word, 'balls' and decides she doesn't want to know what he's saying. When he tries to answer her, all he gets is more blood, spitting it out onto the roof—and this has Izumi moving closer, at least awkwardly, trying to figure out what she can do to help. She doesn't have water with her—_ wait, that isn't true, my water bottle is still half-full _and Izumi fumbles for her backpack, offering him her water.

He takes it with a surprised look in her direction, and Izumi feels herself blushing. He spits the first mouthful out, with more blood, and then he swallows what's left of the water.

He looks a little better after a little bit of water. That's…good.

Right? Can he have water? (Of course he can have water, she's being a dumbass. But he looks really, really bad.)

"Yes, I…am All Might. Five years ago, I got into a deadly fight," he straightened, wincing a little, curling his free hand over his left side.

Okay, so, an injury, and his quirk has to have changed—that's not—who had he _fought _? Who could hurt All Might like this?

"F-five years ago? The fight with Toxic Chainsaw?" guesses Izumi, trying to backtrack, and he shakes his head.

"No, it wasn't in the news. I asked for the fight not to be made public. Though you probably recall the incident; before I managed to take the villain out onto the open ocean, he nearly destroyed Tokyo," Izumi swallows hard, remembering the number of sidekicks and pro heroes that were killed that day, and the way so, _so _many pro heroes (and provisionally licensed heroes) were called in to deal with the aftermath.

The death toll was over three thousand confirmed, and even today there were hundreds still missing from what the media had called a natural disaster. It was a villain attack? She'd thought that was a typhoon hitting out of nowhere, and a chemical factory had gone up in flames the same day.

She feels sick, remembering how long All Might wasn't around after that. It was odd for the Symbol of Peace not to be anywhere near the destruction zone. And now she knows why.

"I took him out to an abandoned oil rig over the ocean, and I fought him alone. And he did this to me," he lifts his shirt, and Izumi can't suppress her gasp of horror, seeing the angry red scar that tears his left side apart, clearly meant to kill.

The villain had nearly killed him. It's very, _very _clear he shouldn't have survived that fight. All of a sudden, his lack of appearances since then, especially in the few months after, make a startling amount of sense. So does his parting with Sir Nighteye. They probably couldn't work together, if only because All Might is injured and doesn't seem close to retiring. Which of course would mean he couldn't mentor a junior hero.

And that's why he moved to telework, of course. Yagi Toshinori had also dropped out of the news around then—had his secretary been hurt? He had to be. Wow, they look similar in person, though Yagi-san is a bit smaller than All Might. Or was. He probably isn't now.

"I'm missing a few organs, and I can only work for a few hours a day as a pro hero," he admits, and Izumi stares, wide-eyed and in shock, "I'm going to have to ask you to keep this to yourself. It will only cause a panic if the public learns the truth." She quickly nods, several times, because _how can she not _? It's his secret, and his biggest weakness, and Izumi won't betray that to anyone-not even the forums will know. "As to your question, young man," he sighs. "No. Someone without a quirk cannot become a pro hero."

It takes one sentence for Izumi to feel her heart shatter, and her dream with it. She can hear the shattering sound as the world goes icy and cold and suddenly her chest _ aches _, ice and cold replacing the sparks and tearing them apart. She knows she's probably in shock, but she can't handle that right now.

Because her hero isn't even trying to look at her.

All he can see is that she's quirkless.

Just like everyone else, all he sees is her quirklessness.

_Just like everyone else _.

Hearing that, _seeing _that look in his eyes; it hurts more coming from him than anyone else.

He's supposed to be All Might. He's supposed to be better.

He isn't, and it makes her chest feel so cold she feels like she's frozen on the inside.

"That doesn't mean you can't join a different profession," he tries for a smile, but even that hurts right now, and Izumi struggles to keep her face neutral, and—to her surprise, it comes to her much more easily with the hero than with Bakugo. Maybe it's because he doesn't scare her. "The police force is always looking for people who study situations and working with them, well—police often save more lives than pro heroes, and you could easily do very good work as a detective. And if you are interested in saving lives, then," it feels like a pity answer, it isn't a pity answer, _it isn't _, she tells herself but she doesn't really believe that. "Becoming a doctor is also undervalued, and most heroes with healing quirks prefer to use theirs in the field. You don't need a quirk to save lives."

He coughed, again spitting out blood, but Izumi's blood has turned to ice in her veins even though she's worried about him.

He's been living with this for five years but she can't process that right now.

Blood is roaring in her ears, so loud it's nearly drowned out his coughing. She's held onto this for years and her heart is pounding, but it feels distant. For many, many months, it's actually been the only light she's really had, other than her mother. And her hero—_ the _number one hero—thinks just like the rest of them.

Would he agree with Bakugo, then, if he knew?

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

The same words come back to her again, and they _burn _in her chest, because she can't imagine All Might saying them but he's said something that amounts to the same thing. She's worth less than everyone else just because she doesn't have a quirk. She's quirkless, _worthless _, and she can hear it in his words if not his voice.

She turns to look away from him, because she's going to cry, and she won't give him the satisfaction of seeing how much he's hurt her. She's always known, people have _always _told her it's impossible, but she's always believed otherwise. The cold chill is still there, wrapped solidly and tightly around her heart, and she can't figure out what it is, and she clenches the railing, tightly.

Even her hero thinks she can't make it as a pro hero.

There is one thing she can tell him, but does she even want to? She'll start crying if she does, and so instead, she stares.

He stops at the door down, and Izumi hears him turn back to her "Remember," he starts, and she doesn't look at him.

"Who'd believe me?" she asks, her voice soft, but she can almost hear him flinch, and she hates how her voice sounds.

Soft, and hurt, and sad. It makes her feel bad, but she can't turn to face him.

She can't. Not now. He's—he's _literally crushed her dreams _, so he can feel bad for a little while even if she hates hurting him because he doesn't deserve that; he's just given her the truth, it's what she _asked for _—and she nods, managing to compose herself again.

She's going home. She's going home and she's going to pretend everything is okay, and maybe she'll come up with something later, or tomorrow, or even next week, but right now she needs to go _home _.

She dries her eyes, offers him what has to be a fake smile, waves goodbye, and passes him to take the stairs down to the street. She'll catch the bus after all, it's not two blocks away. And at least she's numb. She'll cry later, when she has the energy and the time. When she's away from her mother, away from All Might and everyone who wants her to give up.

She's nearly died, had her dreams crushed, and learned that her idol is literally living on borrowed time. She can't miss that he's losing his life, slowly, because no one healthy is vomiting blood or coughing it up like that. He's probably as healed as quirk doctors can make him, and it's still not enough to give him back what he had before his injury.

She knows it's wrong of her, but she hopes the villain that hurt him is suffering, or dead in a ditch somewhere. Because otherwise Izumi might do something truly stupid for a man who's crushed everything for her and left her with nothing. Because Izumi only got the truth from him, and even if it hurts, it's something she needed to hear. She's going to have a hard time of it regardless—it's better not to get herself killed in the process. Right?

She can't help the empty, icy feeling in her chest, though.

It's different from the ice from earlier when Bakugo confronted her. It's not the same as the roaring in her ears, either.

The shopping district is emptier, once she leaves the main part, through the door of the mall building All Might put her down on. Her feet find the familiar path home, and as she tries to process everything she tries not to cry, her eyes burning. Not crying will be easier if she's not on the bus, she reasons, so she's going to keep walking.

It's better for her to walk, since that way at least no one can watch her cry. Maybe she'll start running, but in a bit. Actually, no; running sounds great.

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

She ruthlessly shoves the echoed words into the back of her mind and starts jogging. The pounding of her feet makes the fuzziness go away, the ice slowly melting and it's not the _best _solution but she has nothing else to offer, not to herself. She passes multiple alleys and only stops when she sees and hears an explosion coming from a few streets over.

She can't help herself; she's moving toward them before she can blink.

Once she arrives at the alleyway, though, she freezes, staring into it.

The ice is gone in an instant.

Fire and warmth spark in her chest again.

_Danger-danger-danger _, but not for her, urges her forward towards the crowd. And the fire beyond it, the fire that smells faintly sweet.

_Bakugo._

Almost stumbling over herself, she pushes her way through the crowd of reporters and civilians looking on, curiosity and fear and worry overwhelming her common sense. She's not here to interfere, or even to analyze, but she has to know.

She has to know if this is because of her and if Bakugo is caught and—and—

And it's the slime villain, again. It's the slime villain from earlier, and she can see it and it's horrifying from this side, from the outside. It's made of slime and sewage; no wonder it burning smells so bad. Her ears are ringing again as she takes in the scene, deaf to her surroundings; a pro hero, Backdraft, is putting out the fires caused by Bakugo's explosions. Bakugo is trapped in the middle, holding off the slime villain that's half-choking him to death.

It's still mostly around him and his eyes are wide and afraid, but it forces its way down his throat and Izumi can feel her own closing up in sympathy, can feel the sparks in her chest again and she _can't look away _. Another hero, Kamui Woods, is trying to restrain the villain, but his quirk isn't ideal for that; Backdraft's is, though, and that's the problem.

He says he's too busy putting out fires, Izumi realizes through the ringing in her ears, reading what he's doing not what he says, and she can't look away. Backdraft is too busy putting out the fires to stop the slime villain but Kamui Woods can't stop him, not without using his quirk completely differently and it will be impossible with Bakugo firing off explosions like that. And the last hero, Death Arms, can't land any of his punches because the villain's body is too fluid. Mt. Lady is protecting the nearby crowds, good for her, but Izumi can see that Bakugo is fading.

His strength is giving out. They don't have much time and they sure as hell don't have time to wait.

She overhears one of them yelling "We need to wait for someone with a suitable quirk!" and Izumi can't help but force her way to the front.

_Waiting for someone with a suitable quirk to handle this _, is what she thinks, and something rears its head.

She's angry, now, and she doesn't know why, but she is.

This is her fault. It escaped because she grabbed onto All Might, because she couldn't just accept her reality and because she had to know the truth. Izumi did this.

The warmth in her chest isn't just a spark, now. It's warmer than that. It's like a coal, a single point of heat, and she can't ignore it. It almost feels like she's being pulled toward the fight, and she takes a few stumbling, staggering steps forward without thinking about it.

Someone asks about All Might, and Izumi feels the guilt rise up to choke her. He was here before, he'd caught it before; and Mt. Lady wonders, too, and she can't—the thing is pulling Bakugo back, and Izumi realizes something.

Its eyes haven't turned to sludge.

And it's still talking. It still has a _mouth _.

_It probably can't get rid of those, or it would have already, to keep them shielded from Kamui Woods' Quirk._

Her brain is running a mile a minute as Izumi makes the connection.

The sludge villain can turn to sludge, and it's obviously a mutation-type quirk that lets the villain's entire body become sludge, but the mouth re-forms and even a viscous-bodied person has to eat so he might be able to rearrange his organs, but they're all still _there _. And in order to see his opponents, he has to leave his eyes vulnerable. If he closes them, he won't be able to see, and he'll be taken out really quickly. He's only blinking one eye at a time. He can probably move them around, but he's got one eye on the pros and one eye on the civilians.

He's not paying attention to her.

Most people can't split their attention three ways, and even with his eyes roving over the crowd and trying to keep the heroes back, he's not really paying attention to the non-heroes. Bakugo's also occupying most of his focus, because if he loses his grip for even a second, Bakugo will blow him up. And slime body or not, wet or dry, Bakugo's sweat is explosive—and getting hit by that will really, really hurt.

The warm tickle in her chest grows a little, feeling like a small knot of heat. It begins to pulse, and she can feel it, almost like sparks in her veins as she takes in the situation. The pros can't think of something to do, but her vision is clearing and she thinks she can do something. If she just gets a closer look, she can do something.

The screams and yelling of the crowd feel far away, and Izumi's focus narrows. She imagines she can hear something, but it's so faint all she can make out is that it's kind of like music. Her blood is pounding in her ears.

She can do something. She can feel the knowledge beating through her in time with her heartbeat as she takes in the scene. The sounds of the world dim and all she can hear is the faintest of whistling sounds that remind her very much of fear and determination all rolled into one.

It feels like a tugging in her chest, a need to move, to do something.

It's drawing her forward, towards Bakugo.

She tracks everything, from the way Bakugo's fiery explosions are being deliberately kept restrained—the villain's probably afraid of them, since his explosions can destroy parts of it, unless it's only partly water, which is making more and more sense since its mouth still exists as well as probably most of its organs—to the way it's protecting its eyes and mouth, the entrance to its insides.

And she realizes that, for this fight and this one alone, she can give them an opening.

If she wants to, she can help them.

Her eyes meet Bakugo's and she sees fear. Real fear.

_He's afraid he's going to die._

_He needs help._

She's seen that look in her own eyes enough to know what it means.

Midoriya Izumi feels the world tilt, very slowly, on its axis as she stares back and the sound in her ears goes silent.

Because it doesn't matter if she's quirkless.

It doesn't matter if she's worthless.

She knows that look in his eyes from so long ago, from the day he nearly broke his arm in the stream, and she knows he could _die _if no one does anything _and the pro heroes are doing nothing to help him._

But she_ can._

_Warmth roars through her veins like lightning striking up a forest fire._

Her decision is made before her mind catches up with it, as she gathers all her strength, and readies herself to run. She's very good at slipping past people, and it takes her less time than it takes to blink to jump over the outstretched hand—she's right, Mt. Lady doesn't have the reaction time to stop her, even with increased size that doesn't increase her speed, she's still stuck at a normal human's pace—and Izumi's pulling her backpack forward before she can think, knowing it's sharp and knowing the villain won't expect her here, won't expect her to try to fight at all. It meets her eye as Izumi bolts forward and unzips it partway with a glare set on her face, dodging the flames like she's dodged Bakugo's fires for years, dodging the explosions, and she can't stay back.

She can't sit back and watch as he _dies _.

She might hate Bakugo Katsuki.

She might love him.

She doesn't know how she feels about him.

He's her oldest friend, even if these days, he's her bully.

She might not want to care about him anymore, but she can't just sit by and do _nothing _while he _dies _because they are too scared to fight back with as much power as they had available. Too stupid to _think, _to look at the situation and work out a new strategy because of the way the villain's controlling the fight.

Izumi's going to save him.

Midoriya Izumi might be quirkless, but she's far from helpless.

She dodges Death Arms' hands as he grabs for her to try and slow her down—she's not really sure how, but his hand slides just past the top of her arm, and he can't even touch her. She can't bring herself to stop, or even apologize, because her eyes are fixed on Bakugo's and she can see his struggles redoubling as he watches her run his way, sees the shock and amazement in his eyes and almost feeling him getting stronger and more furious as she charges forward. She sees the other heroes try to stop her, nimbly dodges Kamui Woods' projectiles, meant to stop her—and aims, before she gets too close to be of any use.

She doesn't know how she does it—but she doesn't have a choice.

_Kamui Woods can aim his projectiles from a distance of over five hundred meters. I just have to make a three meter shot._

Before the sludge monster or another pro hero can stop her, she grabs her backpack and slips it partway off.

Bakugo needs to breathe.

The other pros here have forgotten that the average human body can't go without air for longer than three minutes without training, especially not that of a _fourteen-year-old _, and they're letting _him _handle most of the fight, making him hold out until a new hero gets here. He's untrained and from what Izumi knows about his quirk, water makes it nearly useless. The sludge-body villain is probably the absolute worst matchup for him because it's primarily made of water. The more water is on him or covering him, the harder Bakugo's going to find it to use his own quirk in self-defense because it dilutes his sweat and cools him down, so he can't produce quite as much of it or set it off.

_I need to angle it so the notebook falls out. Wait, wait- __**now!**_

Izumi throws her backpack forward with all her strength, knowing it's heavy—she runs with about fifteen pounds in it every day, and today is no different—and her notebook, given her luck and the timing of her shot, sticks right out, pointy plastic binder and all, to hit it in the eye.

It's better than she could've hoped for but Izumi doesn't take it for granted.

The slime villain _screams _, surging back to protect its eye, and Bakugo is able to fight his airways free, giving him just enough time to gasp out "Shitty nerd, who told you I needed help?"

Izumi makes use of her extra momentum to leap at the villain like she's seen Death Arms and Cementoss both do, jumping forward.

As predicted, the villain can't re-form its mouth elsewhere fast enough and she angles her body—it's like the other heroes with flexible bodies, and she remembers Tiger of the Wild Wild Pussycats maneuvering around a villain to hit him in the mouth. It's a style she doesn't have any training in, but she knows what she has to do, can see it in her mind's eye, and her backpack skitters away on the concrete, notebooks and all forgotten on the ground as the villain yells in pain, as Izumi's shoulder slams into its teeth with all of her strength and momentum and she can feel a few teeth come loose.

She staggers back, gasping, bleeding from one shoulder and coughing from the smoke as Bakugo's explosion suddenly tears part of the villain's body apart, ripping it open for a moment.

A tooth falls out of its mouth as the villain _howls _and lunges for her, murder in its eyes as she struggles and Backdraft's abrupt water blast is the _only _thing that saves them both from death. It's not even trying to possess either of them as skin-suits now; they're going to die.

Bakugo gasps for air as he struggles and Izumi's pulled back by the slime immediately as the thing roars, but one of his hands is free, which means he can free himself using his quirk. He pulls forward to blast it and the villain just barely manages to avoid his second blast, with it yanking his arm back and pulling Izumi's nearly out of its socket, but she doesn't cry out.

Instead, she yells back at Bakugo, suddenly just as angry as he is, "Y-You looked like you were asking for help! I can't just _leave _you here, you idiot!" her hands scrabble at the slime holding her back uselessly, and he flinches a little, misfiring and just barely missing her side, the heat searing another burn into her skin.

It gives her a way to lean back, and rock forward, straining against its hold to free herself.

She manages it after a second and scrabbles at his mouth, struggling to get a grip on the slime. It has to be luck that she manages to drag it away.

It's all she can do to free his mouth, even for a little while, but the villain is more focused on her. On restraining her and shit that hurts, that hurts so bad when it pulls her back again, trying to wrench her away from its victim, but she struggles anyway. Fighting the hold it has on her even though she knows it does nothing.

And then All Might shows up. Literally out of nowhere.

Was he part of the crowd? Did she somehow miss his smaller form? Izumi doesn't know, and she can't look Bakugo in the eye or she's going to lose her arm. She doesn't know what to say as she struggles futilely against the slime villain with All Might bearing down on it like a bat out of hell, but she's relieved even though she's angry.

"You were right, kid," Izumi looks at All Might in surprise as he pulls his fist back "A hero must always be prepared…to risk his life! _ Ohio Smash _!"

The villain is _blasted _apart this time, by the air current he makes, channeled up rather than back, and she can feel the difference as it shrieks and lets them go, the pressure change suddenly giving Izumi air again and leaving her gasping for breath.

Immediately, the other heroes move to congratulate All Might, except for Death Arms, who pulls her aside.

"The hell were you thinking!" he shouts at her, almost in her face "You could have been seriously hurt! You—you—kid, if you had a _quirk _, even _untrained _," and Izumi glares. "What the hell? You could've _died _!"

Her eyes turn hard and cold, and the warmth is a kernel of fire.

Untrained though she might be, she has a brain and she damn well knew how to use it.

"Excuse me," she snarls, and Death Arms starts, and Izumi feels strength on her shoulders and something rushing through her veins.

It almost feels like beauty, like the world has lifted from her shoulders and she's flying again. Like the ocean is roaring through her veins, crashing over and through her in a crescendo of power.

It doesn't matter that she's quirkless.

It matters that she saved Bakugo. That's all that matters to her in that moment.

_She made a difference for one person _.

That's really all that matters.

"For making sure my classmate didn't end up a corpse," pants Izumi when she's caught her breath "With what strength I have! Quirk or no quirk!"

Death Arms steps back a bit, and she sucks in a deep breath as she is handed her backpack by Backdraft. Backdraft, of course, starts scolding her for trying to intervene the second she stops glaring, and when Bakugo growls out that she's quirkless, she gets even more of an earful. So does Death Arms.

Kamui Woods says nothing, but he's watching her; she can feel it, and she sees him out of the corner of her eye, looking almost…ashamed of himself.

Izumi can't hear any of them. She's heard it all before. About how a worthless quirkless kid shouldn't step in just because someone is in danger, let alone bother trying to help because she's just been in the way. Izumi only has eyes for Bakugo, and once she's sure he's safe, that's all that matters.

They're praising a quirk and not a mind, again, and she's furious and she's happy because she's made a _real _difference without a quirk. She's heard it her whole life, so what's one more hero team that thinks she's worthless? Only Kamui Woods doesn't scold her, and he seems to have taken her words into account—and if she's not wrong, he agrees with her. Mt. Lady, on the other hand, seems to be intent on scolding her for 'taking up valuable space' and that is even worse than she thought the woman was.

She thinks. She's not sure she's reading them right.

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

_I do not think you can become a pro hero._

Those words are going to haunt her for a hell of a long time, aren't they?

She can see Bakugo's relief in her mind's eye, can see his shock and amazement and the sudden hope as he saw her _running for him _, even though he _shouted at her _, and she can't have mistaken that for anything else. She'll take any scolding, just to see that, and really, Izumi has been scolded enough. She receives a whole lecture for acting when pros couldn't (or didn't) think to, and she doesn't care. Bakugo's not really her friend, he never has been—but she gave him hope and she saved his life.

That counts for something in her books, even if she doesn't really know what.

She wasn't trying to be a hero, not this time.

She was just trying to give him air until a hero could arrive, to give Death Arms a chance to think of a better plan—to give everyone there a few more _seconds _of time to keep Bakugo from dying.

Until All Might arrived.

Once they're done scolding her, she's given a cursory check by the paramedics, to make sure she's not injured. She gets a few nods and a brief once-over but nothing serious and she manages to beg off home before they check her too closely—she doesn't want to risk getting Bakugo in trouble. The burns are easily explained (she ran into a fight, and she's quirkless) and after she's given even more burn cream and bandages, she's told to go home and not make any more of a fuss than she already has.

She can hear what they're not saying. _ You're quirkless, girl—you're lucky you survived _. Or boy, because apparently she's masculine enough to still pass as a boy, even with her shirt torn up and burned. Izumi's side is starting to hurt as the nurse finishes scolding her and sends her off with instructions to rest. She's going to have to be careful for the next few weeks, but that's okay—she's used to it.

They don't really care about checking on her, anyway. They're more worried about Bakugo.

She's used to it, really. She's not even surprised at this point.

The kid with the powerful quirk always comes first, and the quirkless kid comes last.

Every single time.

Izumi has every intention of going home and resting. Really. She's tired, her everything hurts, she's burned and banged up and bruised (thank the gods the paramedics think it's from the fires she ran through and from getting hit in the face by the slime villain, and not Bakugo or school), she's taken a bath in some truly disgusting sewage thanks to that sludge villain, her lungs are on fire, and she wants to cry and sleep in that order. She doesn't even want to eat, not right now. Maybe later.

But she's done something right and she can hold onto that.

For one moment, she was a hero. One moment of her life.

She's done what a hero would do today, before her mind even really thought it through. She just _moved _because Bakugo was going to die and she was going to see his face in her nightmares if she didn't. He's not her friend—he's _not _, not really—but he's not her enemy, either, and he didn't deserve to drown for a third-rate villain with a shitty quirk like that.

The fire begins to fade from her veins, she can't hear the strange sound anymore, and she's shaking a little, probably from the adrenaline rush.

One last day.

One last day of holding onto this dream, and she'll just…go home, and be normal. Like All Might said she should.

Maybe she'll look into working as a detective.

Yagi Toshinori is many things, but above all, he is hard to surprise.

At his age, he's seen quite a few miracles. Quite a few tragedies, too. What he sees as he arrives on the scene is neither, and both, all at once. A strong boy with a strong quirk unable to fight back against a villain that quite clearly has him restrained, and yet the pros are still able to save him, give him air.

And then a green-haired quirkless missile changes everything all at once, in the span of a few seconds.

What he feels, though, goes beyond that. It goes far and above what he expected _and _what he thought of the green-haired kid, the one who had the courage to not only face a pro hero but ask him a hard question after everything else he'd been through that day.

A kid that fearless…it scares Toshinori just to think about it, but he's felt bad about what he said since that rooftop.

Really, what would Nana think if she heard him say _that _? He'd asked her that very question when they met, and while he wasn't really looking for a successor right now—he wasn't, even if Sir had convinced him to meet to talk about the possibility of choosing one from the current crop of third years at UA—but something about that kid's eyes had resonated with him, had made him feel like he was facing his old mentor again, and he'd panicked at the mere thought of the green-haired boy in danger.

So he'd had to say it.

To keep the boy safe, he'd had to discourage him.

He'd been surprised how much it hurt.

It was selfish of Toshinori but he couldn't watch another child like himself, but with Nana's fire, walk into the hero world and burn himself up until he almost died. He just couldn't do it. He couldn't watch a kid burn himself up to try to be like Toshinori. It wasn't like Toshinori could simply pass One for All on to any random kid in the street, even if he _is _quirkless.

Then he'd seen the explosions. He'd come running over almost immediately after realizing it had to be the slime villain, just in time to see—over a great deal of the crowd, squeezing in along the edge—that the villain has a hostage. The slime villain has hold of a kid—one with a powerful quirk—and the pro heroes on the scene who could do something about it aren't using their quirks effectively. Death Arms, Backdraft, Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods all responded, but the villain has a kid hostage.

And Toshinori's out of time. He can't help but mutter a 'pathetic' to himself, knowing if he reaches for his quirk it will hurt like crazy and render him unconscious. He can't do that.

The boy he talked to on the rooftop has squeezed his way up to Mt. Lady's arms and is staring at the firefight. Probably got here on his way home, but it still hurts a little to see him. Mt. Lady's doing her best, protecting the audience from what's coming and swatting at pieces of slime and fire, blowing the fires away from her as the kid—a captured blond kid this time and Toshinori curses himself for the obvious ploy and desire to hide within a child—fires off even more explosives.

Well, no. Technically Backdraft could've handled the villain if not for the explosive-wielding boy's quirk hindering him. But he's made a poor decision and Toshinori is going to make a note of that for Tsukauchi. Death Arms is doing his best, but his quirk isn't suited to fighting this thing (he'd need to blow it away and there's no way to do that without hurting the boy) and Kamui Woods is trying to hit its eyes or mouth, but the explosions are pushing him back and keeping him from getting a hit in. The villain's using the kid's quirk to protect himself while he tries to take over the kid's body. The villain's eyes and teeth are vulnerable, so the most damaging quirks are kept away as he tries to invade—a well thought-out ploy, if a foolish one.

All in all, it's the perfect setup to a tragedy; another child with a powerful quirk who will never make it out alive. And All Might can't do anything because he's out of time for the day.

He's never felt more pathetic in his life. He shoulders his way through the crowd, hoping if anything, he can do something even as Yagi Toshinori, but he's not nearly fast enough. His side is aching and his scar hurts; tonight's going to be bad enough even without the villain attack.

He sees the side of the green-haired boy's face—the kid came to the scene after what he said?—and it takes him a moment to recognize that expression. Toshinori's height gives him the advantage here, but he has an up-close and personal view of the kid as his face sets, and Toshinori swallows as he feels One for All _jump _inside of him like it hasn't since he was a kid, training with Nana.

Fire unlike anything Toshinori has ever seen in someone so young fills the boy's expression and his eyes harden (and if he's not imagining things they turn a bright, electric blue) even as they water. Toshinori barely has time to catch his own breath, halfway to the front as he is, before the kid takes off, practically _flying _as he slips through the crowd, and if that isn't a quirk that's pretty damn impressive, because he knows several pros who would almost definitely kill for a sidekick with that kind of speed and agility.

Toshinori manages to shoulder his way to the front as he watches, his height giving him an advantage as the crowd all gasps and several of them yell for him to turn back. The kid doesn't seem to hear them.

This kid, this quirkless kid, _this ridiculously brave quirkless kid _is sprinting at full speed toward the villain. Dodging the explosions with long ease of practice.

Backpack in hand. Partway open as if he means to throw it.

Toshinori has seen many pros with less grit in their teeth and steel in their spines.

He has never, ever seen a fourteen-year-old with practically no experience, one who should have been traumatized by his experiences with this thing, throw himself into combat like this. He dodges a pro to get to the scene—of course, Mt. Lady is limited by her size, but still doing her best to protect onlookers—and begins to leap around the fires, ducking and dodging at each instant where he might touch them. It almost reminds Toshinori of dancing, but it's to a beat that no one else can hear if it is (maybe it is, he looks like he knows the blond boy) and the quirkless boy dodges nimbly around every single blast.

He's swinging his backpack around, and—

Oh.

_Oh, that's __**clever.**_

The boy has seen what Toshinori did, given all of maybe five seconds, and has worked out a way around it. The mouth and the eyes are the weakness. The villain still needs to see and can't manipulate things so he doesn't have a mouth or eyes, despite the rest of his body being composed of sludge. And this kid's steely, fire-eyed resolve has carried him forward, beyond where even very experienced pros wouldn't get in close, as they are so focused on using their quirks, and his backpack slams into the thing's eye.

The quirkless kid staggers back, shoulder bleeding, practically crying but there is still a determined smile on his face. It's inspiring, and Toshinori can almost feel One for All jump again, without pain this time.

The villain _howls _in pain and reels back, drawing sludge to protect his fragile, bleeding eye.

The quirkless boy's crying, Toshinori realizes, as the blond kid gasps, suddenly able to breathe again.

The boy who ran forward.

The quirkless child.

He's crying. He's relieved.

"Shitty nerd, who told you I needed help?" the words are barely audible over the roar of the fire, and the explosions, and Toshinori's mind stutters as he registers the sheer fury aimed at the green-haired kid.

In fact, he sort of stumbles and he can see Death Arms do it too, because that is impossible.

He can't be seeing this.

_**No one**__does this. Not for someone like __**him**__—_

He knows the desperation the boy is showing. But the follow up, the lack of acknowledgement, and the expression in his eyes—such _fire _—is accompanied by something very like anger, and Toshinori feels incredibly ashamed of himself.

The blond boy is at least unkind, probably because the green-haired boy is quirkless and they're definitely not friends. They might even be enemies. But the quirkless kid yells right back at the explosive boy, and Toshinori's not imagining the fire there.

"Y-You looked like you were asking for help! I can't just _leave _you here, you idiot!" and yes, the worst or best part is, _he's right _, and he's scrabbling at this villain's body like his hands can make a difference.

And amazingly enough, they are.

The blond kid isn't panicking anymore.

To save someone who's been unkind to him—maybe someone who _hates _him—this quirkless, brave boy has thrown himself headlong into danger without thinking, and he's given the pros an opening, but they're not taking advantage of it. They're in too much shock to use it to their advantage.

It reminds him of himself at that age.

Toshinori has never been more ashamed of himself than he is right now. Not even when he realized Sir Nighteye was right, that he is dying, and that he'd thrown away one of his only supports, one of the few people he could rely on in his fight and his life. Not even when he realized he's still too chicken to call Sorahiko every few months without the man literally running Toshinori down if he doesn't check in.

This boy, this brave, quirkless boy, whose dreams he crushed on that rooftop, is more of a hero than he will ever be.

This boy has run in just to save his classmate, possibly his _bully, _because he can't _stop _caring and he's done so without regret. Toshinori can tell the difference—the boy's thrown himself into danger to protect someone who doesn't like him.

The green-haired boy has no hesitation when it comes to protecting someone in need, regardless of who they are to him.

And this—this kind, self-sacrificing boy, is the kind of hero this world needs.

This boy will never abuse One for All—Toshinori knows that, feels it in his heart as he looks on.

He finds himself drawing on One for All, because the boy was right—he's quirkless, but he _is _a hero. One for All responds almost eagerly, and his body doesn't hurt; he feels like he's flying, which is a feeling he's almost forgotten. And he might have just found himself a successor after all, he thinks, as he moves to save the two of them with an Ohio smash, to change the air pressure. To make the villain dissipate back into his base form, so he could be confined—and, well, he's always liked rain.

A little bit of rain will help put out the fires the explosive-boy started.

He can deal with the press, but they're still not his favorite part of this job.

Let Nighteye meet him another time.

Let him try to tell Toshinori this kid is unworthy.

Toshinori's found the student he's looking for. Nighteye might have someone in mind, maybe a potential candidate, and maybe even the perfect person to inherit his quirk, but this kid didn't even know he was there watching, and he's proven himself as a hero, and one without a quirk. Nighteye's candidate will be looking to impress him, and this kid…he doubts Nighteye's candidate will look anything _at all _like this kid.

Nighteye's candidate, whoever he is, will be focused on the fact that Toshinori's All Might. It will hinder his or her ability to even start performing the way the green-haired boy is, and the quirkless kid—this quirkless kid that reminds Toshinori so much of himself—had absolutely no idea Toshinori was at the scene.

He'd just had his dreams crushed and he _still _threw himself into danger, acting like a hero without prompting and with nothing to prove _._

Then the kid has the balls to backtalk Death Arms, eyes flashing a brilliant amber, and Toshinori chokes. To backtalk a pro hero on live TV like that—well. That takes courage.

The world will remember this boy, Toshinori knows, quirk or no quirk. Not many kids have the guts to backtalk a pro hero like that, to make them step back and _think _, and the kid's not even thinking about who's watching. He's angry, frustrated and he looks exhausted and maybe sick, and Toshinori wishes he could just disappear and reappear to talk to the boy rather than dealing with the media right now, because now he's being asked to give comment on this, too.

From the look on Death Arms' face, that hero's never had anyone just _snap _at him like that, especially not a kid who everyone expects to stand on the sidelines.

No normal fanboy would have the courage to disrespect one of his heroes, and that, that right there means this kid is more than just a fanboy. This kid…

This kid will take One for All farther than Toshinori's ever seen, because he has all of Nana's fire, and a sharper edge, even as a child.

And he's got all the grit and spine Toshinori's only ever seen in experienced heroes.

This kid has exactly what the world needs.

Oh, yes, Toshinori's found his successor in this brave, fierce boy, and he's not backing down. And if anyone tries to tell him otherwise, he's going to point to this news recording as the boy's first showing of heroism. This kid will take One for All farther than anyone believes is possible.

This kid's given Toshinori hope, and surprised and inspired _him _. He doesn't think anyone else, not in this generation at least, will be able to give Toshinori what this boy just did. He turns his attention to the reporters, mind made up.

He's going to do his best to divert attention from this kid, and praise him in the same news story, because it's what Nana would have done for him. It's what he needed done, all those years ago and never got when he first returned to Japan. Then he's going to take this villain to Naomasa, change into something less disgusting, and hopefully, he'll still have the strength to catch this poor kid before he goes home and gives up on being a hero completely.

**:) yes, Toshinori has made up his mind. It's not really a spoiler to tell you that he'll catch her; OFA goes to her, I just had to show some of what has changed in this AU. It's important that Izumi has the guts to yell at Death Arms, because in canon Izuku doesn't. It's also important that Toshinori sees all this happen.**

**Also, quick summary of the TW area as relevant to the plot: Once Izumi sees it, she feels some sympathetic pain and nausea, and then it goes back to normal.**

**And yes, you did just see what you thought you saw. :)))**


	5. Chapter 5: I Believe In You

**Izumi really does mean to go home and be normal.**

**Her school bully yells at her because he's a jerk. She kinda predicted that that would happen. Still hurts, though.**

**And then she meets All Might. And finds out that actually, her hero is a lot more like her than she ever thought he could be.**

**Hey all, sorry for disappearing-I was moving, and moving house takes forever. I also had to reorganize work hours and get organized, so the editing part of this chapter just sort of fell on the back burner. I am not dead, as y'all can see, and I DO update.**

**Like last chapter, (+*) indicates Bakugo's nasty TW words. (*+) is at the end of his Nasty Words. Don't worry, in a few chapters his words stop floating back to her except at really, really bad moments, and I intend for her to overcome them. This is also the beginning of the real Bakugo/Consequences section of this fanfic, and he will be facing significant consequences for his actions that he doesn't face in canon (but which he should; telling a person what he tells canon-Izuku is Not Good and he needs to learn that his actions do have consequences).**

**Also, there is some serious crying, as well as some worldbuilding in this chapter. And some more Dad Might, because I'm a sucker for Dad Might and I love that dynamic. **

**Don't worry, no explicit consequences or bullying here, just feels and some angry pomeranian in the first quarter of the chapter.**

**Credit to Orcus and Quickbeam for helping with the edits; without you guys I wouldn't have been able to make this flow as well as it does.**

* * *

That plan of avoiding people and being normal, Quirkless Midoriya Izumi all goes to shit on her way home.

Really, given how her day's gone, she should have expected that, but it still takes her by surprise.

She left, as All Might dealt with the press, ignoring the pros' words of caution after her—she'd already heard it from All Might and didn't want to hear it again—thinking about how she'd been a stupid, reckless idiot. She knew she was reckless. She wasn't ashamed of it. She didn't regret charging in when no one else even _tried _to save Bakugo. She shouldn't have had to step in; the heroes should have been able to solve that problem by themselves, if they only used their brains.

Mt. Lady could have easily blown that villain away with her strength, but she didn't even **try** . She just protected the civilians, and super-sized her whole body. She's a rookie, yeah, but that's an oversight Izumi won't, _can't _ignore, in a fight. Mt. Lady had to have known she could do something, maybe even big-size her fist and use it to punch the villain like All Might had, and yet she didn't even try. And Death Arms...well. Izumi has heard of several pros who rely solely on the powers of their quirks, but man, she thought he'd be smarter than that! In hostage situations especially, he's used several tactics and proved he has a brain. He's certainly smart enough to realize he could have put out the small fires with the force of his fists, and, as he's more experienced than the others, he could've made a workable plan and salvaged the situation.

Kamui Woods could easily have taken command of the situation; he's one of the top fifty in Japan! He's handled hostage situations before and they've always gone pretty well. It looks like he lost his cool the minute the other pros did, though his quirk was badly suited for what happened to Bakugo.

And even Backdraft only responded to the existent problems! They could've easily given the villain's body some difficulty, since they were made of fluid, watering them down to be less of a problem. He could've even choked the villain for a moment, as clearly it could speak and had to breathe, but instead he just did damage control!

Bakugo was going to die because _their Quirks weren't suitable for the situation _.

Because they had to fucking _wait _for someone to _change their goddamn minds _.

Because they refused to see themselves as anything but an extension of their own _quirks _.

Izumi would gladly give her own life before she let someone die for such a stupid reason. She knows at the time, they weren't really racking their brains for a plan, either; they were overestimating Bakugo's stamina and how long he could hold out, based on their assumptions of his ability and level of training. They saw him as a future hero, _not _as a civilian.

She had a brain, even if she was quirkless, and it was a real surprise to her that none of the other pros seemed willing to use _theirs _back there. Refused to see him as someone who was _dying _rather than a fellow pro or future pro.

Except maybe Kamui Woods noticed, since he hadn't joined in scolding her, which was…weird. Maybe he'd seen something or understood why she rushed in. Or maybe he'd tried to make the situation better, or come up with a plan, but decided his quirk wasn't good enough. She's not sure-he's young, so it's also possible he thought the others wouldn't listen to him, especially after how Mt. Lady acted this morning.

The look on Death Arms' face after she stepped in-it's made her hope she's made a lasting difference.

If at least one pro hero thinks twice about their quirks after today, after seeing _her _, a _quirkless _kid, make a difference, then charging in like that was more than worth it. She's pretty sure it won't change anything major but—maybe, since she's changed one hero's mind,he'll be able to save more people this year.

Izumi can't imagine not moving in a situation like that. Bakugo _looked like he needed help _. Even if he wasn't asking for it, she knows that desperate look. She knows what that look means, after all, she's seen it in her own eyes before. And in the eyes of so many other people-like that kind, white-haired boy in Mrs. Otani's office all those years ago. He'd needed help so badly, and she hadn't been able to give it to him. Even so, he was kind; she wishes she remembered his name.

No matter how much she dislikes Bakugo Katsuki, no matter how much he's hurt her, she could never live with herself if she left him looking like that.

Izumi's head is down, and she almost misses the pounding of feet on the pavement behind her. The faint crunch of gravel alerts her and she turns around, hands up and ready to defend herself when she sees Bakugo racing towards her. She stops, halfway ready to stop him, and he skids to a halt, panting, his eyes wild. He's angry, but there's more to it-_ shit, not now._

_Come to tell me how superior you are, after today?_

Izumi has no energy for this. She can't deal with him right now.

"Deku!" he's panting but he still shouts, glaring at her. His hair is streaked and grimy with sewage and his eyes are almost black, he's so angry. "I never asked for a_weakling _like you to help me back there, got it?! And you _didn't help me _, got it?!"

She doesn't want to know what he'll do if she says anything. Izumi's chest fills with shards of ice as she stares at him, his words from earlier echoing in her mind all over again.

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

She doesn't know what to say, so she doesn't say anything. She just stands there.

How many times does he have to say it?

She gets it. She's a useless quirkless little girl playing wannabe hero. Hell, even her own hero believes that. Bakugo's words are just salt in an open wound. Salt and lemon juice and it _hurts _.

"Got it?! I was fine by myself back there!" he continues to insist. He wasn't. He's exhausted and hurt and if she says any of this he might _actually _kill her.

After today, she realizes she can't trust him to hold back.

"You're a quirkless _failure _playing hero when you don't need to! Don't think you can look down on me just because you thought _I _needed _your _help!"

Izumi feels her mouth go dry, but still doesn't say anything. Her chest hurts; everything hurts, she just wants it to stop. This, this right here, is just telling her that she's right about him. It confirms that Mrs. Otani wasn't lying after all-that Dr. Oguro _was _. That she's never been friends with him, that all his kindness has just been bought by her giving in to him.

The worst part is...every time he says these things it still hurts her to hear them. After all these years of him yelling at her, beating her down, she thought the pain would go away, but it still hurts.

Her eyes are stinging.

Why does she have to still _care _about him?

"Are you trying to make me owe you?!" he's still shouting and the icy feeling in her chest feels like she's being stabbed by a set of icicles.

She's always tried to forgive him. If not for his sake then for her own—she knows how much it hurts to hate someone, how much it _burns _to have them standing there in front of her—she can't imagine how much it hurts him to owe her.

He hates her. That's why he's always tried to discourage her. He wants her beneath him, wants her weak. And the idea that meek, wimpy, _quirkless Deku _saved _him _is probably too much for him to bear. But Izumi can't keep forgiving him either, because she's tired of being his punching bag.

He might have been her first friend, and he might never have meant to hurt her back then, but he means it now, and he isn't her friend now.

He's just a bully.

Just like all the others.

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

He wouldn't have told her to go kill herself if he was her friend.

He doesn't care about her, but Izumi can't help but care about him.

"Don't look down on me!"

_Wait, what?!_

"You damn nerd!"

Izumi stares at his retreating form, watching him hunch his shoulders, like he's embarrassed, and tries not to start crying. She's had such a bad day that she just wants to sit down, right here, and cry, it'd be easy.

Even watching his retreating back hurts. He's not touching her, not even speaking, but all he does is hurt her.

_He's never ever been nice to me._

_Not since he got a quirk and I didn't._

_Not since I became Deku._

_So why does it still __**hurt so much**__?_

She wants to scream, but her voice dies in her throat. Once she's sure he's not following her, she turns and starts trudging home. Now she's friendless as well as quirkless. She can't keep holding onto Bakugo with a memory of when he was Kacchan. Onto the hope that he will someday be her friend again.

And it hurts. She doesn't have anyone else. She can't have anyone else. Everyone else is too afraid of him to even try to become her friend.

Fine. She doesn't need friends; it's not the first time she's been friendless. She'll make it to UA alone. Izumi feels her shoulders slump as she glances back over her shoulder, realizing that Bakugo's gone.

_Now I'm alone._

_At least he's gone._

The thought hurts, though. Izumi makes herself put one foot in front of the other anyway, walking forward.

About five blocks later, to her amazement, All Might literally charging out the side street, stopping of her and grinning, shouting, "I am here!" and promptly vomiting up a stream of blood.

Suddenly, with a _poof _of steam he turns back into himself—well, the frailer version of himself.

Izumi's brain has, by this point, sort of stopped working, though she's dimly aware he's saying something to her. She thought she'd never see him after today ended.

Is he here to scold her, too?

She's not really sure she can listen to him tear down her dreams _again, _especially not for being reckless.

But it's _All Might _.

That intense gaze, the warmth there, the—the—she can't, she's can't think and she doesn't know what to do—

_Then All Might bows to her._

Izumi's brain shorts out.

He bows very, very low to her, a bow that Izumi has **never** seen anyone do for her, offering her respect and she stumbles.

What in the world has she done to deserve this?

She is _not worthy of this, not after today, not from her __**hero**__— _.

"I was wrong," he says.

They are less than ten feet apart, but Izumi's vaguely aware she's started opening and closing her mouth like a fish, stunned. She feels numb, still, but the numbness is fading and she thinks she can smell ozone, like lightning, around him.

"I have spent a very, very long time with pro heroes over the years," Izumi won't close her eyes, she won't, she _won't—this is a dream—if I close them I'll wake up _—but she's tearing up, and she has to see him, so she blinks, _and he's still there. _"Enough that I forgot what it means to _be _a hero. Today, if you hadn't said anything, I would have become nothing but a symbol—just a poser in a suit, wrongfully holding the title of the Symbol of Peace. You showed me what was important today. You proved me wrong," he smiles, and this time, it's not ringed with blood and this time _it feels real _, and Izumi sort of hiccoughs and staggers, struggling to keep her balance. "Out of all the heroes in that alley, you were the only one who saw what needed to be done, and you didn't think—you just moved. You, kid—you can become a hero."

_You can become a hero._

The words ring in her ears, ring in her heart, and Izumi can't think.

It's not fire that touches her then, but something that feels like lightning, thrumming against her skin, and the ice in her chest is gone. She can't think. She can't _move _. She's overwhelmed, and—it's everything she's ever wanted or needed to hear. She doesn't need a quirk to become a hero.

All Might believes in her.

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

_You can become a hero._

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

_You can become a hero,_ she thinks again, defiant, in All Might's voice; _**you can become a hero.**_

Because even if she doesn't have friends, even if she doesn't have a quirk, she can make her dream a reality.

That's the most ringing endorsement she's ever had in her entire life and it's the _validation _she's always needed. The world tilts and disappears as she starts crying in earnest, happier than she's ever been, even as a child, and—and—

_You can become a hero._

It's right up there next to the words _I believe in you _, and it replaces the apologies that Inko had always whispered to her, for her being quirkless, for her even being there, in her ears, and it…it's better. It's the best thing anyone's ever told her in her life. And isn't that horrible, to be first told that she could follow her dream by a stranger... even if the stranger is _All Might _.

_You can become a hero._

Distantly, she realizes she's fallen to her hands and knees and is crying on the ground, struggling to breathe because there is a cold breeze and warm tingling and both_hurt _and there's _nothing she can do about it _. She's relieved, because she's not dreaming—the concrete hurts under her hands, and her burns ache and _she's not dreaming _.

She's not dreaming.

Her hero really believes in her.

_You can become a hero._

"H-hey, uh, kid," right, right, she hasn't even told him _her name _, oh shit, _shit, shit, fuck _— "You're…um. I didn't mean to make you cry? Are you…are you okay?"

She looks up, wiping at her eyes to see him looking down at her in concern, crouched in front of her and _he's still huge _, even crouched down, but he's closer to her level. She's figured out his height, of course (he's 7'2" and he's _giant _), but…well. It makes him look pretty comical, bending down like this, and it can't be good for his back _or _his side, and yet here he is next to her.

Here he is, for _her _. And that's something she never thought would happen; not to her, not to _quirkless, worthless _Midoriya Izumi.

She manages a wet laugh, wiping at her eyes.

Definitely not dreaming. It wouldn't hurt if she was dreaming.

"It's…it's been a really long a-and bad d-day," she manages a watery chuckle, "It's n-not your fault," except it kind of is, and it's pretty clear from the way his eyebrows go up that he doesn't believe her. "I—w-well, maybe it is p-p-partly, b-but don't worry, th-these are happy tears, I-I think, or I'm—j-just stressed, I-I don't kn-know," she explained, struggling to keep her gaze near his face, if not on it. He looks…much kinder, this close, albeit awkwardly so, even with his really angular face, and he also looks like he's changed-he's not covered in sewage. "I—I mean—I—school h-happened, an-and it was b-b-bad, and then, that-that w-weird _shit _," she stammers out "And then I went f-flying and—and then-then I—I _puked on your shoes I'm so sorry _—and—now this, and I jus—I just…" she's crying again, she can't help it, and this time he shakes his head and smiles at her.

"You're a bit of a crier, aren't you?" Izumi shrugs, still wiping at her eyes, and is surprised when he offers her a hand. "Come on, at least you can stand up. That can't be good for your ribs."

Shit, he's noticed her ribs. She really hopes he isn't blaming himself for it.

"Uh…no, but I think it's just a bruise," All Might looks a little ashamed of himself, and hesitant, like he's about to apologize. "It's not—it's it's okay, you didn't r-realize and I figured it w-wa-was an a-accident and, and you did s-save my life, so-so-so—"

"It's not," he says quietly, and he sounds really guilty but she takes his hand and lets him pull her to her feet and _holy shit _he's strong, even though he looks tiny and frail like this.

But that makes sense—he's All Might-which means that strength is still there even if he isn't actively using his quirk. She's almost pulled off her feet before she manages to stand, and—even now, something about him feels warm—and it feels _good _to feel warm again.

"I was off by a fraction of a centimeter, and a fraction more might have killed you, kid. That's not a mistake I can allow myself to make. I am the world's strongest. I'm not about to make a habit of injuring you or anyone else simply because I got careless."

Izumi shakes her head "I m-m-moved right as you punched, because I was f-fighting back, and y-you weren't expecting me t-to," she argues, and he shakes his head again, clearly upset. Izumi swallows, and says "Look. I'm not t-trying to ask that you f-for-forget a-about it, because if you're concerned, c-clearly, then it's b-bad," he worries at his lip as he looks down at her, eyebrows going up, her voice brightens as she smiles at him, "But, seriously, I'm fine. Or, as fine as I can be," she shrugs, wincing a little. "I did just nearly get myself blown up. Besides, I'm quirkless. Not like I have a choice sometimes, getting hurt like that." Usually adults buy it and leave her alone after that, but surprisingly All Might looks…well, guilty is not the right word for his expression, but it's clear he wasn't thinking about what happened earlier when he told her that. Oh no, she meant to make him feel better, not worse!

Was he feeling guilty now? Has she just insulted The Symbol of Peace? Is everything he told her just now out of a misplaced sense of—

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," and then Izumi realizes she's talking out loud. Again. "No, I wasn't. I promise, I'm _not _telling you this just because I feel bad; you were the reason I was able to move in that alleyway, and that's why I'm telling you this," he looks like he's about to laugh, or cry, or something, and Izumi's not sure which. Then he smiles, "You mumble to yourself a lot, huh?"

Izumi tucks into herself "I don't have any friends," she admits quietly, and something oddly like understanding, not pity, flits across his face.

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

She doesn't. It hurts, but she _doesn't _, Bakugo's not anywhere close to her friend, not anymore, and even if she has no one else she's _fine _. She doesn't want to forgive him but she doesn't know if she'll be able to help herself.

But she doesn't think she can handle that right now. Not after today.

_You can become a hero, _All Might's voice assures her, and she takes a deep breath, and lets it back out.

"I wasn't lying or trying to make you feel better when I said you could be a hero. Because what you did back there was exactly what a real hero—a hero like the heroes of _my _childhood—does. You moved without thinking," Izumi wants to correct him, but it's…it's nice, hearing praise for what she did, even though it was stupid, even though it was reckless, being praised was such a new concept to Izumi. "You moved because he was going to die, and because there was no one else who could see that something was wrong with their assessment. You moved because _you weren't going to let him get hurt _, no matter _who _he was to you."

Izumi flinches a little at that, and All Might nods, and again he looks oddly understanding instead of pitying... she's not sure what to make of that. Or of anything else of what he's said, even though it's all echoing around in her head. She's trying to make sense of him, but he doesn't make sense and it's frustrating.

Does this have to do with his cousin? Maybe there's more to that relationship than she thought. They do look pretty similar.

"There are some heroes who move without thinking, but I've never actually seen anyone your age do what you did," Izumi flushes, ducking her head, and tries not to mumble about how stupid it all was. She doesn't succeed, from the smile on his face. "No, no, you misunderstand me—I completely agree with you. You're upset. They didn't think ahead, and they didn't use their heads once they were in the situation. They assumed your schoolmate knew how to use his quirk and could hold out like a pro, but like it or not he's just a kid. As embarrassing as it is, pros need reminders sometimes; we get pretty used to using our quirks first, and thinking second," Izumi lifts her eyes to his in surprise, and it doubles when she realizes he's bending down a bit to look her right in the eye. "I, uh, I saw your notebook earlier."

"Ahaha, um." Izumi manages, because she's really flustered and _her hero believes in her _and she has no idea what to do with this because _oh __**shit**__he's seen my notes—_

"It's good work. I…admit I looked, when I picked it up," he looks a little embarrassed. "I was curious. I…um. I was—well, I was quite impressed," Izumi feels like she needs to sink right into the ground right now. At least it's not her villain analysis notebook. If he saw that one she might actually want to die of embarrassment. "It's very well-written. Were you inspired by anyone, or…?"

"I just…r-really l-like analysis. I l-look at s-situations and—and I think about them, a-a lot. I h-have a lot of free time, and I finish my homework fast, and—well, I thought, I thought it might…help, to—to know how people fight," Izumi admits, struggling not to shy away or not answer him and stuck stammering like an idiot instead. "I-I like heroes, and I mean—I-it's not like I'd h-have a quirk t-to fight with, s-so I have t-to use my brain t-to take down v-villains a-and work with h-heroes instead. My m-m-mom has d-done it with me s-since I was a l-little kid, b-but I started d-doing it more on my o-own a-as I got older."

The smile she receives in return is almost blinding "Then I am even more certain about this," and Izumi stares at him, because _what _. "Most heroes these days don't think about how to apply their quirks as much as how to use them, and how to make a quick, tactical decision. You figured out how to give them an opening in about three seconds, didn't you?"

"Two," Izumi mumbles, and then covers her face with her hands. "Oh _no, _that came out wrong I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it like that," she starts, and All Might laughs, not his booming laugh but a gentler one; it's richer, but a lot softer than his defiant laugh.

It sounds more real.

She likes his real smile and laugh better than his fake ones.

"That's what I mean. It's impressive," he swallows, "Um. I don't believe you ever told me your name?"

"Oh—oh no, I—oh _crap _, it's been such a long day and I forgot, please don't worry," is all Izumi can say, staring up at him as she realizes he probably still thinks she's a boy. "Okay. Um. I'm really sorry today hasn't gone well and I just, I just forgot, and, um. Yes, I'm sorry, again, I'm—I should have said s-something but I couldn't think and, um, I'm actually, uh," she feels a little lightheaded, actually, but she does a low bow anyway, ignoring the pain in her side as she straightens. "My name's Midoriya Izumi. Um. It's…nice to meet you?"

She's not expecting the spray of blood but he catches the blood after—he's probably hurt himself, again, he did say he could only work for a few hours every day after all. It's worrying to see him splutter and spray blood everywhere like that.

That's not normal. He's bleeding inside somewhere and that's very much _not good _.

"Right then," he smiles, and bows back, and Izumi's a little shocked because he bends almost as low as she does. "It's nice to meet you, too, Midoriya-chan!"

"Um. You're, uh, spitting up blood a lot," she hesitates because if he doesn't want her to question it she won't, but she's worried. "Are you okay?"

"It's an old injury," he chuckles, "Don't worry about it. I spit up blood when I work too hard, or do too much, and I pushed myself today," he admits, and then frowns. "Must be getting old. I could've done that a lot faster as a younger man…"

Izumi can't help herself "How old are you?"

She's surprised when he goes red and shakes his head, spluttering a little "You d-d-don't want to know," and, holy crap, _All Might stutters? _"Um. Also, if you're—going to be talking to me, outside of hero work, I'd rather you use my real name. I'm Yagi Toshinori. I-I'd like you n-not to t-tell anyone, th-that I'm…well, All Might."

What.

Izumi's brain sort of stutters, twice, then three times as she puts the facts together.

Two and two make four. Today's been a crappy day for her.

And Yagi Toshinori, _All Might's quirkless secretary _, is All Might.

She thought his name was supposed to be Kino Kazuki.

No wonder he looks so much like his own secretary. He _is _his own secretary.

How the hell hasn't he dropped dead from _exhaustion _yet? Yagi Toshinori has a full time job, and All Might a second one, and neither has time off at the same time—so_how _does he keep it up? She thought they looked similar, but finding out they're the same—isn't Yagi supposed to be older?—is a big surprise.

If that name and identity is a cover-up, though that actually makes sense—All Might doesn't get to have much of a personal life, though he does have a name and an identity. Even knowing his real name is a surprise (and a privilege) and it makes sense that his 'real' name is a fake—how would he get any privacy if he put his real name on the paperwork to register as All Might?

Though it's probably not strictly legal, she's not in any position to complain or ask him about it. It's worked pretty well to keep his personal life a secret, thus far, and she can't fault him for wanting a bit of privacy. The media follows him practically everywhere. And that means he's been her hero in more ways than one. Maybe he was quirkless at her age, too—though she seriously doubts that, maybe? Because his records don't make any sense if he isn't quirkless.

Unless he's got someone high up in the government covering for him. Which is probably the real explanation for this.

"Uh…uh," starts Izumi, struggling to bring herself to talk to him, rather than mutter. "Um. Y-ah, Yagi-san?" she guesses, and the blond man chuckles, nodding. "I'm…it's, uh," her mind then catches up with her mouth "Wait, what? What do you mean? Talking _to _you?! I—I thought—what—you're s-sticking a-around?! And I'm not going to tell anyone, of course I'm not; you need to have at least _some _privacy!"

Knowing what she does now, she's horrified at the thought of ruining what little privacy the poor man probably has left. He—All Might—can't go anywhere as Kino Kazuki without people following him everywhere. And she's seen him drop his groceries before on _live TV _as All Might. Being Number One probably means he has almost no time to himself in that form, and she can't remember the last time All Might went to the grocery store—villains would find it a very tempting target. Izumi has no intention of ruining that for him.

Yagi looks very surprised, and then turns red with embarrassment, choking a little. She's actually never seen All Might blush before, even in his more—buff form, and at least _now _he's not coughing up blood but…wow. She's never seen anyone turn that red.

Well, except her? Maybe? She's not sure.

"Uhh. Yes, you're—you're quite right, but I wanted to catch up with you first." Izumi's mind sort of stutters, again, because why would the _Symbol of Peace _want to apologize to her? "Also," he coughs, looking a little embarrassed, "I, um. You do realize you're saying all of this…out loud?"

Izumi wants to die a little bit. Just a little.

Maybe the ground can open up and swallow her whole right now.

That would be nice. Then she can stop rambling in front of _All Might._

"It's not—it-it's fine," he stammers out, "Midoriya-chan, it's _fine _. I used to do it all the time. I just learned how to not do it so much as I got older. Honestly," he rubs the back of his neck, "I still do it sometimes."

Has she stepped into a parallel universe, or something? Who knew the No.1 hero was this awkward?

Izumi just nods, and clamps one hand over her mouth. Then promptly remembers she's spent a lot of time grabbing at sludge in the last few hours, because her hand smells like rancid sewer water. She releases her mouth and swallows down the sudden nausea.

She kind of wants to puke all over again.

Her mouth also tastes fucking awful, but she gave All Might—Yagi-san, she corrects herself, her water earlier. She doesn't have any left, not that she regrets it. He needed it more than she did. He probably still does if he's going around coughing up blood.

"I have something important to ask you, too," he looks around, but as they're close to Dagobah Beach, there's no one around to hear them. "I would like for you to inherit my power."

Izumi stops thinking again as she stares at him, uncomprehending.

"You what."

He wants her to _what _?

Yagi coughs, rubbing the back of his neck hesitantly in another mannerism she's never seen All Might use—but that makes sense, since All Might is performing every time he goes out into the field, isn't he? His embarrassment is often covered with a laugh; his fear, too. He even said so himself, in a few interviews, that he smiles and laughs to trick his own fear and help other people feel the same way, though the public seems to have by and large ignored that. Taken it at face value even without the lie. But he's performing, pretending, and people think that's what he's really like in person.

And now he's not pretending.

She kind of likes him, even though she's a little disappointed he clearly _does _have a quirk. Yagi Toshinori is genuinely _nice _. Awkward, but warm in a way that All Might can't afford to be. She can see All Might in him, but—it's not quite the same; he's more…more of a person and less—putting on a show, and she likes that. It makes it easier for her to talk to him without falling to pieces, even if he _is _her biggest hero.

She wants to ask him so many questions right now. She actually opens her mouth to ask and then, remembering that this is a secret for a reason, shuts it again.

"I…um. Well. Seeing as there's—ah," he coughs, shakes his head and starts again. "It's—complicated, and a little hard to explain, but—I can't risk this being overheard." She nods once, glancing around quickly to be sure they're alone. "It's probably—ah, I'd rather not talk about a-all of it here, just—in case, prying ears and all," he gives her an awkward, if genuine smile and Izumi blushes, nodding furiously.

"Of course, I-I don't know h-how many people are a-around but it's probably better to be safe than sorry, right?" he nods, and Izumi beams at him. "S-so, uh. Do we…um, do I walk home? And—and then you can tell me, uh. Later? Be-because your wh-whole thing, it, uh—it doesn't make any sense."

He looks so very relieved and sad that Izumi wants to give him a hug.

"That would be—yes, good," he manages, "Ah, do you—have anyone you need to contact? I mean, you're young, so I can't imagine you're out this late without—" Izumi manages to choke a little at the thought and completely misses the rest of what he says.

Her mother.

_She's forgotten about her phone._

_Her phone and calling her mom oh SHIT Inko is going to be so angry with her she's never going to hear the end of it she was on national TV and she back-talked at a hero and her phone is at least cracked if not broken and they can't afford a new one and FUCK she yelled at a __**pro hero**__on national __**TV **__and __**all of Japan**__saw her backtalk a __**pro hero **__on __**national TV**__—_

A warm, large hand settles onto her shoulder, and draws her out of her thoughts "It will be okay," rumbles Yagi in a voice not that dissimilar—but somehow more familiar—than All Might's and the warmth sparks in her chest again. The panic ebbs. "I-I'm sure your mother will be happy to hear that you're alright, and you've had a long and quite bad day. Um—your burns," he starts, "I'm a little worried there—the medics didn't take a good look at you, did they?"

Izumi winces, she's forgotten about the burns in all the aftermath but her shoulders are on _fire _now and how'd she _forget _he had to grab her shoulders earlier? "Yeah, but I'm—I'm okay. I should call my mom," she fumbles in her bag, looking for her phone, only to see that the device is literally in pieces in the bottom of her bag.

There is no way she can make a phone call on it now.

Izumi stares at it, and so does All Might, a little dumbfounded.

She can't tell how it ended up in this many pieces. Maybe Bakugo's shockwaves got it? But it looks fried, too. Did All Might do this?

"Well. Um. That's a problem." Izumi swallows, "I-I should be okay to walk home-um," she starts, stuttering.

She doesn't have the money for this. Neither does her mother.

"No, no, young Midoriya-I, um," he rubs the back of his neck, going red "I'm actually c-carrying mine a-and you should really call your mother," he offers her his phone, and Izumi stares.

_This is All Might's phone why is he handing her his phone shitshitshitTHISISALLMIGHT'SPHONE— _and she cuts that short when All M—Yagi chuckles, a nervous sound. She looks up to see he's still red, but she can't imagine she's mistaking the concern in his eyes.

She's going to have to get used to thinking of him as Yagi or she's going to give his secret away.

"It's one of the ones that lets you make calls without unlocking it," he offers. "And I'd also like to make sure your trip home is villain-free."

Izumi goes red and looks at the offered phone again "I-I-i-uh, th-thanks, uh, A-Al—Y-Y-Yagi-san," she stutters out, and the idea of an adult—of _anyone _other than her mom—caring enough to make sure she gets home safe is…nice.

Okay, it's amazing. Not just nice.

It's her favorite hero, her idol, offering her this tiny thing but it means he _cares _, and she really doesn't want to think about this because it means she'll say it out loud. He is her favorite hero, the hero she's looked up to more and more as she's gotten older, and—here he is offering her his phone _even though it's probably a matter of national security _and he's _just as kind in person _and—Izumi bites down on her tongue hard, taking a second look at him.

_He's nervous, _she realizes as she looks at him. _Really nervous._

But why? He's the number one pro—but then again, he's always performing, isn't he? It makes an odd sort of sense that All Might is nervous—maybe he's not used to being around people who know. Or he doesn't know her and he's been sort of shamed by her? Izumi hopes that isn't why. It's...nice, because Izumi's never met a pro hero who's been this honest with her—then again, she's not met many pros—and a little weird, too.

Her mind turns to his 'power,' probably his quirk. He said _inherit _, does that mean his quirk is—does that mean it can be passed on, that he wasn't actually born with it? Is _that _what he means? She looks up at his eyes again, and realizes he's giving her a gentle smile, eyes twinkling with amusement. Izumi feels her face grow hot and turns to look at the phone.

She really has to get this muttering thing under control, because she keeps saying all of this stuff out loud.

"Whoops," Izumi manages, swallowing down whatever else might have tried to escape, and nods. "Th-thank you. I-I'll call her n-now," she knows she's bright red as she uses the 'emergency' function on All Might's stupidly huge phone (but it makes sense, even as a skinny and frail-looking man his hands are huge and he's _tall _, he's so tall she has trouble looking at him up close without craning her neck a bit and he's still slouching) to call her home phone number.

Her mom picks up on the second ring_ "Yes? Who is this, and is this about my daughter? Is she okay? She's not picking up and she was on TV earlier, please, I just need to know—"_

Izumi cuts her off "Mom! Mom, it's me, Izumi; it's okay, I'm okay," and she hears Inko let out a relieved half-sob, half-laugh on the other end of the phone. "It's me. I'm, uh, borrowing a phone—I s-s-sort of broke mine," she adds on a nervous chuckle and Inko sniffles. "I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier! I—well, it's a really long story, Mom, and it really doesn't make that much sense. I'm still really confused about some of it," she glances up at All Might only to see him twisting his hands and looking a little awkward. "One of the heroes', uh…" she covers the end of the phone and whispers "help me," just loud enough for All Might to hear her but not her mom.

She hopes.

_"One of the heroes? What do you mean, Izumi?" _starts her mother, immediately, but Izumi isn't paying attention to her but to All Might.

Thankfully Inko hasn't heard her.

"Ah," he clears his throat, "I'm registered—as Yagi Toshinori, that is—as All Might's secretary," he prompts and Izumi nearly drops her face into her hand. "You can let her know I'm walking you home just to be certain you're safe. We can talk on the way there."

"Okay," she whispers, nodding to him and ignoring her mom's louder (and more hysterical) questions about what happened. "Mom! Mom, one—one second, please, just let me explain?" Inko stops talking, and worrying at her about who is walking her home and what it means. "Mom, look. I, uh, I…like I said it's been," she stops again, catching her breath, surprised at how shallow it is. "It's been a really long day. Uh. I—I uh, I m-met All Might," she swallows as Inko gasps and just manages to pull the phone away from her ear before Inko squeals.

_"Really, sweetie?! I'm so happy for you!" _cheers Inko, and Izumi feels her own grin about to split her cheeks in two, blushing bright red and wanting to melt through the ground and disappear because _All Might _is literally three feet away and he can hear every word Inko is saying. _"I saw he was there! I hoped, but—and you didn't get scolded by him, did you? I might have some strong __**words**__for him if he did! And you, young lady…Izumi, I'm so proud of you," _she says, and Izumi feels her eyes start to water for the fifth time that day, trying not to start crying. _"You got his attention, didn't you?"_

"M-mom, it's—it's—I promise I'll tell you, but it's really complicated okay, I can explain better in person than over the phone," stammers out Izumi, struggling to ignore All Might and at the same time sneaking glances at him.

He's clearly trying to be polite, but he's keeping an eye out, and he looks about two seconds, if that, from quirk activation if something threatens her. It makes her chest grow warmer, like with the little sparks of warmth earlier but steadier, and she feels safe. Like she doesn't have to keep her head on a swivel, even though this neighborhood isn't the best and this area is usually abandoned by this time of night, save for a few small time criminals and she suspects, a few vigilantes. No one lives out near Dagobah beach, not with how it smells, and they're about half a block from the waterfront. She can smell the trash heap from here, if she tries, but it's not nearly as bad as the sludge villain.

Izumi shudders a little at the thought.

She's going to need fifteen showers just to feel clean after today. Maybe one long one.

_"Izumi? Sweetie, you drifted," _Izumi almost curses, catches herself and says _shoot _instead, just barely, and Inko chuckles. _"Just tell me what you can, dear."_

"R-right," Izumi stammers, "right. Um. S-so, h-he saved me, a-and he's—well, he's really busy, but his, uh, his secretary's a little worried I'm going to be attacked on my way home since I'm s-so close to Dagobah Beach r-right n-now and I-I've had some bad luck t-today, a-and I d-d-didn't want to take a b-bus after th-that. H-he's the one who offered me his phone, t-to call you, and he's—he's a lot stronger than he looks, Mom. It's Yagi Toshinori," her voice cracks a little, because she remembers Yagi Toshinori and she looked up to him as a child and _finding out he's really All Might _is really just sort of making her world tilt on its axis.

Inko gasps in surprise _"I thought he stopped working with All Might after that incident five years ago! No one's seen him around at press releases," _Izumi can certainly understand why, with how he looks, and when she looks over All Might's looking toward one of the side streets, shoulders hunched. _"You know, sweetie, he once beat Endeavor in a fight? I thought All Might's agency fired Yagi-san or made him retire, but I guess not!"_

"Y-y-yeah," Izumi stammers, trying not to blush _more _because her mom's almost as much of a hero otaku as she is and their Number One (both quirkless and quirked and _that _likely as not has a story) is literally able to hear every word both of them say. "M-mom, he—h-he got hurt pretty bad a few years b-back, that's why no one s-sees him around anymore. H-he's less comfortable I-in front of cameras," she makes it up on the spot, but All Might looks _relieved _when she catches his eye and Izumi almost lets out a sigh of relief. "But he's still really strong, and he's really nice, and he w-wants to make sure I get home safe. H-he promised A-all Might he'd walk me h-home. W-we're only a few blocks away, really, but you know Dagobah."

_"I do," _Inko says, and then the doorbell rings. _"I've got to go, Izumi! Stay safe, tell Yagi-san thank you for me in advance; I think Bakugo-kun's mother is at the door! See you soon!"_

Mitsuki is coming over.

Izumi feels the ice come back almost immediately. The world is colder with the warmth's loss.

"Y-yeah, see you soon," Izumi manages, and Inko hangs up.

Bakugo Mitsuki is nearly as bad as Bakugo Katsuki with her temper, except she doesn't actually hate Izumi. She just babies her because Izumi's quirkless and it means she thinks Izumi has to be protected, just like Inko does. She also feels really guilty over what happened with Bakugo a few years ago, and Izumi _knows _that because around Mitsuki, Bakugo actually behaves, even though he yells at Mitsuki. She's heard them discuss it before, and she…she used to love Aunt Mitsuki, really, but Bakugo Mitsuki is too much these days, and she's undoubtedly there to remind Izumi of Bakugo being attacked or worse—and she doesn't know how to face Mitsuki, not right now. Izumi really doesn't want to, because she knows her mother and Mitsuki both think she's still Bakugo's acquaintance if not friend, and she's _loud _. Also, she thinks Mitsuki thinks Bakugo has a crush on her, which is just—no _. No _.

There's no way Bakugo has a crush on her.

(+*)

_Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray you get a useful quirk in your next life!_

(*+)

His words from earlier come back to her and she struggles not to cry all over again, because she doesn't know what to _do _. She can't go home and pretend everything is fine when it really isn't, and she can't just tell Mitsuki what Bakugo did to her.

Who'd believe her, a quirkless kid, accusing a future pro hero?

A warm hand lands on her shoulder, and Izumi blinks, looking up as the warmth returns, into blue eyes that spark with a hint of red—red like his quirk, in her mind's eye—and she finds herself smiling in spite of herself. He looks concerned about whatever she's got to say next.

If anyone in the world will believe her about something like this, it will be All Might.

* * *

**If you liked it, I promise there's more where that came from-just not instantly, I have a DD game and a friend's wedding to prepare for next week. I promise I'll get back to this ASAP though!**

**Hope you did like it. All Might's going to have some questions for her, and yes, I'm writing Mitsuki as still-Inko's-friend, but there is a different slant to that dynamic, too. All will become clear in chapters 6 and 7.**

**Let me know if you've got questions and I'll do my best to answer the ones that aren't explicit spoilers!**

**Given that one commenter pointed out some of their thoughts can't go in a formal setting, I do have other places where I'm happy to talk BNHA and fanfiction in general! ****I try to do a NaNo project every time I'm available (including this coming July!) and am happy to talk fanfiction and original fiction ideas there or on my discord or even tumblr. I'm an aspiring writer who will be eventually writing a short story collection (I'm working on it!) and novel set in a geologically-correct world.**

**I am also in the Sapphiria Roast server because Endeavor is the #Poo hero and I don't like him very much. This is not necessarily a reflection of my feelings on other characters, but the Trashfire is going to remain in that position for me regardless of how the manga develops him going forward.**

**I sometimes disappear because RL is kicking my butt. I am working on keeping that from happening now that I've got my own space, but it will probably still happen from time to time. I will do my best to get back to you all when I'm available though!**


	6. Chapter 6: Breakdown

**Izumi has a breakdown. Toshinori is a Good Dad and does his absolute best with the situation he's been handed - all while his quirk is acting up. And he might not know it yet, but he's about to give his student the best thing he can - a teacher and adult that will pay close attention to her and actually listen.**

**Tags for this chapter: explicit discussions of and inferences of ableism, discrimination, a concerned adult reacting to bullying to the level of Season 1 Izuku pre-meeting All Might, discussions of being told you *should* commit suicide, calling Bakugo a brat, One for All being More Than It Seems, and generally angry Toshinori. Also, if you think Toshinori doesn't know what Deku means, and didn't hear what Bakugo called her, you're in the wrong story.**

**So, I did make a note of where explicit low self-worth and bullying are mentioned as (**). I went back and edited the end of that part to (++) but, yeah. If you're triggered by that, use the find shortcut to find (++) and go from there where Toshinori is less explicitly infuriated and thinking about it. **

**I h/c Toshinori, as a consequence of his upbringing and life as a quirkless kid in a society where hero/villain fights were a lot more unbalanced in favor of the villains, would have a pretty strong reaction to what she's going through. And of course there is DadMight content within. I'm a sucker for found-family DadMight, so here it is.**

**Also be aware: I also h/c that Toshinori has a significant amount of anger he doesn't act on as All Might, so since we're in his head, he's angrier. This chapter also begins the real Bakugo Katsuki/Consequences tag I put in this story at the beginning. **

**There is also some explicit ableism (quirklessness versus quirks) in this chapter, though it is mostly inferred by Toshinori, and confirmed by Izumi's behavior and the way she tries **_**not**_** to make a fuss about it. And yes, this will probably be a recurring story topic.**

**Credit to Orcus for helping me edit this chapter - without you I'd have had a completely different Chapter 6, so thank you!**

* * *

The girl is _cute _, is the first thing Toshinori realizes as he takes her in, wringing her hands nervously; her skinny, small form reminds him painfully of his own quirkless days. For all she's got a strong heart, she's going to need a lot of training because she's also _tiny. _She could use that, but she'd need to be fast, much faster than she was today.

Her public persona won't need much work. That's good - she's cute, fluffy, and he can't help smiling as he looks at her, even though he can tell something's wrong. No matter how tall or strong she gets, he hopes she's never going to lose that smile, or that compassion.

Really, offering a pro hero water after he's crushed her dreams? That wasn't something he could have done, not if Nana had told him that. He'd have been unable to think - and, he realizes, she _didn't _think twice about it.

_She really is that kind._

The thought isn't quite as much of a surprise as it was earlier, when he saw her bolt out from the crowds to save the boy. She's going to need encouragement, but she has the heart, and the drive, to be a pro hero.

The phone call is…well, it's embarrassing, especially because he can hear both sides of it. It's a surprise, but a pleasant one. He had no idea people were fans of _him _, of _Yagi Toshinori, _and not just All Might. Not just the hero, but the man behind him - the quirkless one, the boring one, who ran his own agency because, as Naomasa told him, he was a bit of a control freak. He'd had no choice when he was a child to separate All Might and Yagi Toshinori, but the separation had gone farther than he'd intended, to the point that both have separate identities and separate jobs. He'd naturally taken over as the secretary for his own agency in the beginning to both save on money and keep from accidentally giving away his secrets to the wrong people. Then he'd grown to enjoy running the agency itself, paperwork and all.

And who'd expect All Might to do his own paperwork, anyway?

The press guessed they were cousins, but he'd never confirmed it in either identity, though he'd mentioned them having similarities offhand to try to keep the press off his back. He, Toshinori, _has _taken down Endeavor before, and several other puffed-up heroes. The thought almost brings him up short as he remembers the YoTube compilations, and he flushes brightly as Inko calls him 'her hero,' in reference to Izumi.

That's probably really inspiring for a quirkless kid, to find out their quirkless hero beat so many pros. He'd grown something of a reputation and had been unable to avoid all of the emails about his 'cryptid' compilations on YoTube (which were a little funny, but mostly embarrassing since they were tiny pieces of news footage about him). Most of them were a reminder that both sides of him were under scrutiny from the media.

He did keep one bookmarked, but only because he wasn't embarrassed by it - the compilation of him standing up to Endeavor. Not all of his interactions with the pro were publicized, but enough were that he knew Izumi had to have found them.

It probably really helped her to hear he'd beaten Endeavor, even if it was at something like paperwork or hiring practicies.

He's almost sorry he had to let her down about his identity.

Almost. He doesn't like lying to people, for all it's necessary to keep almost all of his personal life a secret, and he feels really bad about tricking a quirkless kid into thinking he was actually quirkless, and—well, he's kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop now. Once people find out - they don't tend to react well. He'd lost more than one friend that way (Nighteye comes to mind and he has to ignore the thought, because it _hurts _so damn much).

Somehow, Izumi is still bright red every time she looks at him. Despite knowing he's lied to her, she's - still meeting her hero, still meeting All Might, he reminds himself. That's probably who she sees, now. Her mom is gushing, and she's embarrassed and happy about it.

She's not looking at Yagi Toshinori any differently than she is All Might.

And she's happy.

Though there's something wrong - she's happy talking about him. He's gotten very lucky, he thinks, in finding this girl.

Because despite how weak, how _pathetic _this form is, Midoriya Izumi keeps giving him these—almost adoring, almost-awed stares, like he's no different in this form. He's frail these days, not really All Might and not even really the infamous Yagi Toshinori.

Something in her smile—it reminds him of Nana. The way her smile gave him hope as a child; it's the same feeling he gets from Izumi now.

He can see it—she'll inspire a whole new generation of heroes to become better than the best, and in her hands One for All will be able to carry the weight of the world in a whole different way. A better way.

Nana would just laugh and ruffle his hair if he started mumbling like she did earlier.

On Izumi, small and fluffy as she is, it's downright _adorable _and it makes her look like an excited child—maybe one who isn't out of elementary school.

He also hasn't met anyone with her smile before.

It makes him feel like he can relax a little — like he can drop the act around her, which in and of itself is a little weird. He's never warmed up to anyone this quickly, as all of his tiny friend circle can attest to, but something about this girl makes him relax.

He's not sure what it is. He suspects it's because no matter his injury, she's not treating him differently - she _knows _and she's as much a fan as she ever was, treating him the same way. All of his friends have treated him like he's made of glass since the injury, (even David, close as he is, can't help but worry), but Midoriya Izumi isn't doing that.

She's excited, in awe, and she keeps sneaking glances at him like she thinks she's dreaming. That's—it's not quite what he was expecting, but something about it bothers him.

She's in middle school, so she's likely applying to UA—she might even be in the right year to be in one of his classes, since she's definitely older than she looks. Being small for her age wouldn't be so concerning, if not for how he'd found her earlier. The burns covering her torso, old scars and new, and the bruising on her shoulders (he hadn't missed her gasp in pain when he took hold of her shoulders to ensure she didn't fall) are worrying by themselves. The boy from the fire - the one held captive by the sludge villain - also yelled at her for trying to save him, though he wasn't sure what was said over the roar of the fire.  
(Also, the fight with All for One had ruptured both of his eardrums. He didn't need hearing aids yet, exactly, but his hearing isn't as good as it once was.)

Then she apologized for crying, for taking up time - possibly for inconveniencing him, he wasn't sure - but it was like her tears weren't important. Like breaking down was wrong. And the words he knew had finally made her cry?

They weren't harsh. He hadn't made her cry on the rooftop (he should have, he should be apologizing for what he said several times over). She just held her head up high and walked home, or tried to.

The words that broke her were _I believe in you._

He means it, just as Nana did to him back when he was thirteen, and she so _clearly _needed to hear it that he couldn't help himself.

But for a maybe-thirteen-year-old to almost break upon hearing it?

Something is wrong here.

Her mom mentions Bakugo—and his mother—over the phone, and Izumi goes still. It feels like the warmth she's giving off stutters, fizzling like a fire that's been abruptly doused with water, and he can almost feel that fizzle shifting around _inside _him. One for All shifts too, a spark flickering down his arm in response to the implied threat and he can _see _the red line of lightning ripple over his skin before it fades, retreating beneath his skin. Toshinori's breath catches.

One for All has never responded to anyone but him before.

_What is this?_

One for All is responding to a girl.

Then his attention returns to her, because her reaction is as telling as One for All's, for all that his quirk doesn't make any goddamn sense right now. That's a problem for a later date-this, though, he can solve right now.

Izumi is a naturally warm person - this, he's learned just from a few minutes of speaking with her. But for one name to set her off like this...it's either the mother or the son causing this, and the son, with his explosive quirk, is more likely. Izumi is nearly shut down just talking about him and he doesn't miss the way she gets off the phone with a quick excuse.

She looks up at him, hanging up the phone, and the warmth he's feeling flickers a little-this isn't a quirk, is it? Empathic quirks don't usually affect him, what with One for All-the most they do is project a tiny amount of information to him, but even the strongest empaths can't affect his emotions, and often can't read them accurately either.

And she is, or at least has been diagnosed, quirkless.

It might just be One for All acting up, he reasons; he's had the quirk for a long time, and he still doesn't totally understand what it does. It responded to her running headlong into danger earlier. This is probably another extension of that. Sometimes he wonders if One for All was in the hands of an empath, before he got it-it wouldn't surprise him.

The feeling he's getting makes the back of his neck prickle. Her smile is a little empty, a little sad, and too small. It feels like she's in danger, or hurt, and he doesn't like it. He does a quick sweep of the street again, ready to activate his quirk—but they're alone, and the CCTV cameras for this block are out. He wouldn't have dropped out of All Might's form if they weren't truly alone.

Something's still wrong, though; he can feel it. Anxiety wars with worry as he looks around for the source, wondering what could be wrong.

Izumi's smile freezes when he looks back at her, and it feels wrong, flickering for a second. Toshinori has to strangle the sudden urge to give her a hug (her ribs might be _broken _; also, he's almost a stranger, she won't react well to that no matter who he is) as she meets his eyes.

He waits as her brow furrows in thought (or sadness or grief or something very much like fear, he wants to ignore it but he _can't _), because he needs her to tell him what's wrong. A part of him wonders why he's reacting so strongly to this, but it's drowned out by the much louder voice telling him that her self-sacrificing behavior for a classmate, who then yelled at her for it - and the look in her eye right now - isn't good.

There's a look on her face he's seen in the mirror, one that says she's just so _tired _, and it feels wrong on the face of such a young girl.

He knows how that feels more intimately than he should.

Izumi blinks suddenly, wiping at her eyes, and he gives her an encouraging smile. She doesn't smile back, but she does sniff, and One for All _jumps _again. If he didn't know better, he'd say it wants to _hug _her, too.

_Is this what Nana felt toward me? _He wonders, _is __**this**__why she chose me?_

The beaming smile he gets for a moment is almost enough to make him feel better, and the urge to activate his quirk fades a little.

It doesn't completely, because her smile falters.

Remembering his lessons, Toshinori is gentle "Is something wrong?"

Izumi startles "Wh-what? I—I'm okay, I just—it's been a bad day," her voice wobbles, though and he knows that's not all of it. So he waits. "I—the blond kid, th-the one I saved earlier. Mitsuki's—she's his mom. Bakugo Mitsuki." The name is said bitterly, though he doesn't think she means it.

_The one yelling at her is Bakugo, then. That's...concerning. And with the heat quirk… _he suppresses a wince almost viciously as he recalls her burns, and the ease with which a hand could have formed them. A superheated one.

_This is not good._

"She's kind of close friends with my mom. They used to be closer, but…" she doesn't continue, but she doesn't need to; the burns tell their own story. "Um…" she looks a little downcast "So. Uh. Y-yeah, she—she wants to say, um, thanks. For—for saving him. He," she chokes back what sounds like a sob, and looks to the beach, not him. "He was going to d-die. I couldn't—I couldn't just sit back and d-d-do _nothing _. The pros on site, they—they said—they said they had to wait for someone with a_suitable quirk _to show up."

And that was something he was going to be certain to add to his report. There should have been no reason for a kid her age, quirkless or _not _, to be needed to take that damned thing down. Toshinori should've been there, or if he couldn't, another pro should've been able to. Owl, perhaps, or Kamui Woods. The situation had not had to be that deadly. All Owl needed was to get to a vantage point and direct Backdraft, and that would've been it.

He notices Izumi is tense, ready to do—something, he's not sure, but he has the feeling it's to do with her criticism of the pros—and him. But they all deserve it, Toshinori especially.

"You're right. They were shortsighted," Toshinori agrees, when she doesn't go on, and she looks at him in surprise, eyes watery. "They should've stepped in, or taken the time to think about their actions before they stepped in to respond."

"I kn-know," Izumi stammers, and then swallows. "You're—you agree with me?"

"Of course I do," Toshinori does his best to stay calm, because her surprise hits him in the gut. "They were wrong. The media might say the pros had it handled, but I saw what you did—they were waiting, and they _forgot _your classmate was a child. Even a trained pro could've died in that situation—you did the right thing, Midoriya-chan."

He notices how she stiffens at the mention of her classmate and doesn't say anything else. It's not hard to tell that he's bothering her—that, and the way he scolded her for saving him, the yelling he did on-scene...like he was embarrassed. It reminds him of Endeavor, and not in a good way. Endeavor, though, at least had the good sense not to scream at his saviors at that age—though the parallels are alarming.

What's far more alarming is the way she goes quiet.

He's missing something important about the blond boy.

"Midoriya-chan," he says, and she looks back at him, blinking back more tears. This girl—something, some_ one _, has taught her to think this way. "Is something wrong?"

He spies a bench when she shakes her head, looking at the ground. Her legs have started shaking, though, which means she's lying to him.

"Won't you at least come sit down with me for a moment?" he tries, and this gets a nod, small though it is.

He guides her—without touching her, he learned that lesson earlier—to the bench, and they both sit. Izumi stares at her hands, folded in her lap around his phone—hands bearing old burn scars, he realizes, and the faint sheen of sweat from the fire. A few of her fingertips are blackened.

_How did the paramedics miss this? Those are __**third degree burns**__!_

She shifts a little, and he sees a bandage, hastily applied, under her shirt. Not the same one as earlier - this one was applied by a paramedic, he thinks. But it's not enough to disguise the faint burn scars on her torso, not the ones she covers quickly.

Nor the ones on her hands.

This is not, Toshinori realizes, a onetime occurrence.

She isn't afraid of fire. She maybe should have been, with burns like these, but she isn't.

Izumi didn't run into those flames without fear, though - she ran in with _determination _, and somehow that's almost worse.

He's gentle with his hand on her shoulder, remembering her burns and how she winced when he grabbed her earlier "Are—are you alright?" he isn't quite sure how to do this, but he can't mess this up.

"I'm—f-fine, it's just—b-been a l-long day, l-like I said," she stammers, but she won't meet his eyes.

"Midoriya-chan," she tenses underneath his hand, but doesn't say anything. Toshinori keeps his voice very gentle. "I can tell something else is bothering you. Please, what's wrong?"

Her body stills. Tense, silent, and her hands are squeezing his phone so tightly that he thinks she might be trying to use it as a lifeline. Her hair, short though it is, shadows her face and he catches sight of an old burn scar beneath her collar. This is important.

It has never been more important for him not to mess up a conversation.

Izumi hesitates, even when she opens her mouth. It looks like she wants to talk to him, but she doesn't, at the same time—but holding this in isn't good for her.

He knows that look. It's the same look he had on his face for the first six months he was training with Nana, before he told her the truth. Before he broke down and confessed that he was getting beaten up on his way to training every morning and that he was too weak to stop it from happening. Before he told her why he literally couldn't make it some days—he kept ending up in the hospital because of his bullies.

Toshinori waits, because he won't say anything one way or another, not if she doesn't want him to. With the burns, and her scars, it's definitely a similar problem.

_I hope it's not as bad as my childhood was._

"P-pro-promise me y-you won't t-tell my mom?" she starts, quiet, and her voice shakes.

It is definitely as bad as he thinks it is.

Her mother loves her. She isn't the one hurting her—but Izumi is definitely encouraging her to look the other way, and Toshinori will be double-checking that. Just because she's trying to hide this from her mom doesn't mean the woman will be totally on Izumi's side. There's a reason she doesn't want her mom to know.

The way she responds to the name Bakugo, and the boy from earlier—he's the one doing this.

The pieces fall together as she speaks.

He nods, "I won't tell your mother, I promise."

That doesn't mean he won't intervene, or make her go to a doctor. It just means he won't make her tell her mother until she's ready.

Izumi sniffles a couple of times before she responds, keeping her eyes fixed on the road in front of them.

"B-bakugo K-katsuki and I—th-the boy b-back there—w-we used to b-be close f-friends. W-when we w-w-were k-kids," she's stammering, her hands shaking where they're clutched around the cell phone, leaning into his arm for support. "He—was always f-fast, s-s-smart, and v-very l-loud. V-very g-good at getting a-atten—attention," she sniffs again, and furiously wipes at her eyes. "W-when—when our quirks—c-came in a-and I didn't g-g-get one, he—he started calling me—_ D-deku _. I-it's a way to—misread my n-n-name. It m-means useless," she stops, desperately choking back a sob, and Toshinori feels his own words hit her again.

And it hits him three times harder.

_A kid without a quirk…I do not think you can become a hero _, and he feels a painful knot, an old and familiar one, tighten in his chest.

How many people have told her that over the years?

How many people told _him _that, and he proved them wrong?

And a bully told her, at that. A bully who might even have hurt her like Toshinori had on that rooftop. Fuck, he feels like an idiot. He should have known better.

Nana would be ashamed of him.

The only thing he can do now is be here for her. To try to make up for adding to the burden she's been carrying all these years.

He remembers how easily the paramedics brushed off her burns and Toshinori feels sick.

Because that, that right there, tells him what's been happening to her _and _that she'll be a better hero than he ever was or could be.

She didn't just step into that fight to save a classmate.

Bakugo, the boy he helped save, the one all the pros are calling a future pro hero for the strength and versatility of his power, isn't _just _a classmate to her.

She stepped into that fight to save her bully's life. _Her bully and her abuser._

She stepped into the fight to save her bully's life, _possibly at the cost of her own _, which is both impressive and very worrying. Even Toshinori has hesitated a little before saving the lives of his old bullies, but Izumi just stepped up and put herself between Bakugo and the slime villain like it was a natural move.

Like her life is worth less than Bakugo's. Which in its own way is concerning—he's going to make sure she gets counseling for this.

This goes beyond the spirit of self-sacrifice that all heroes need. He can't sit back and do nothing about this—it would be wrong and he can't watch her sacrifice herself as if she's worth nothing because she's _worth so much more _than she thinks she is—but confronting her about it isn't the way to help her, either. And from the way she's shaking, the way she's quiet about it, she hasn't been _listened _to by many people in her life.

"I-I d-d-don't, I don't—want to m-make trouble," she starts, shoulders shaking, and he can see tears falling down her cheeks even though she's making a valiant effort not to cry. "H-he's—he's g-going to b-be a pro h-h-hero somed-day. I d-don't want to m-mess—mess that up f-for him."

She chokes on another sob and One for All jumps again, shifting his arm just _so _, and he lifts it, carefully telegraphing his movement as he shifts to let her lean against his side. It may be his injured side, but it doesn't hurt anymore, having her rest there—and she needs it. She almost sinks into it in relief.

"It's okay, Midoriya-chan. It's okay, let it out," he says, because he doesn't know what else to say, and it's the words that break the dam.

The story unfolds slowly, as he expects, but she needs this.

"He's—when we were e-e-eight, he was b-b-bitten by a d-dog. It was j-just a puppy a-and it was s-s-scared," she furiously wipes at her eyes, clearly trying to keep going. "H-he'd already s-st-started putting down other k-kids, pretending they were v-v-villains in g-games, a-and no one but m-me stood up to him. Th-that was—that was _all _. And—and—he was going to k-kill it! He was going to kill a—a p-p-puppy, because he was s-scared and m-mad a-an-and not th-thinking—and I couldn't, _I couldn't let him do it _," she sobs, then, and Toshinori hesitantly wraps his arm around her when she stops, tucking her into his side.

She almost hits his scar when she turns and buries her face in his chest, arms wrapping around him, but he doesn't flinch away, though the contact is so unexpected he freezes. One for All jumps again_ , _red lightning crackling down his arms and over her hair, almost like it's approving of her and he feels _warm _, like Ben or Melissa is here with him.

He's also furious that no adult in her life has noticed. A fury he does his best to bury in worry because he's really worried.

She starts crying almost silently—children who cry this quietly don't want to be noticed, don't want to be heard and coupled with her words from earlier, he can't ignore what this means—and he holds her as gently as he can, rubbing careful circles on her back to try to avoid aggravating more possible burns. He's thankful he's still as muscular as he is, because Izumi is practically falling on him. He's still strong enough to hold her up without his quirk, despite how skinny he is. And she's heavier than she looks—though not as heavy as she should be, not for a girl her age.

The fact that she's trusting him—a complete stranger, even if he is her hero—and not her mom is also pretty telling. Either her mom won't believe her, or it will make both of their lives impossibly difficult.

Toshinori hopes it's the latter.

He doesn't know what he'll do if it's the former. Something stupid. He's already made his fucking mind up. His phone buzzes in her hands but she doesn't seem to notice and he ignores it. It's probably Sir, and he's needed _here _right now.

"It hurt," she whispers, "It really hurt. I-I went to the h-h-hospital a-and, and I," she swallows, and Toshinori swallows too, "I-it, w-well, I-I have a pretty h-high pain tolerance n-now. M-mom pulled me out of school, a-and Mrs. Bakugo promised t-to rein in her son a-after, b-but," he can tell that didn't work, at least not in the long run, and Toshinori's arm tightens a little as he wraps his other, slightly bruised arm around her shoulders. A sob escapes her again. "I—I was f-fine, I w-went t-t-to another s-school, h-he got s-some th-therapy, a-and then, and then w-we had—th-the only other m-middle school, I-i-it's so _expensive _t-to enroll me, so I'm—I'm in school w-with him and," she sniffles again and Toshinori resists the urge to hug her tighter, "And I—I even th-thought, I thought he might _try, _h-he was k-kinda n-n-nice to m-me, he tried to _a-apologize, b-but he d-didn't m-mean it _, he, h-he, it—the s-scars, they're f-from _him _, b-but I t-tried, I tried to f-f-forgive him for m-mom's s-s-sake, and, t-to-today I couldn't, I couldn't," she dissolves into tears, whispering something into his chest.

He holds her to him a little tighter, careful of her bruised up ribs and burns, feeling rather than hearing her choking out words into his chest. It's only because of years of training that he can make them out, even around his hearing damage.

He can make out _told _and _swan dive, _and he knows what she's been told.

_That arrogant little __**shit!**_

The words she's choking out cut into him like a very sharp knife.

Part of it's an old hurt but the rest of it is anger-no, he's bypassed that, he's gone right to fury, and it takes Toshinori a good three breaths not to react, to calm down enough to avoid scarring her for life.

(**)

This boy, this arrogant little _brat _, had told this girl to go and kill herself, to get a quirk. To-take a jump off of the roof, to kill herself, and hearing that— _knowing_what it means, what it meant to her—Toshinori feels angry and sick inside, that this kid that so many people praised for being a _hero _, for being ready to become one, has been doing this to her. Someone everyone believes can be a hero has this monstrous side he's been expressing just at her.

He's been telling her she's worthless and useless for years. Deku means _useless _-he's been calling her 'useless' for years.

That brat is no hero.

And Toshinori, without realizing it, made everything worse with what he'd told her on that rooftop.

No wonder she'd snapped back at him—God, no wonder she'd sounded so _broken _, and now he's almost confident her face is going to be in his nightmares. One for All flickers down his arm again, this time in response to his distress, and he suppresses it, turning over her words in his mind and all the things she didn't say.

Doesn't want to make trouble. Doesn't want her mom to find out. Doesn't think she's going to be believed and she's still crying and he's not sure if that's relief or something else, but he's started rubbing circles on her back, doing his best not to hurt her as she cries into his shirt. She's trying to cry as quietly as possible and she_resisted _talking about this, even with her hero (though he's also self-aware enough to admit he deserves every bit of her distrust, he's going to make this up to her).

Which means this is a cycle the adults in her life are perpetuating.

Quirkless children are _still _disregarded in favor of those with powerful quirks, but they have it better than they did when he was a child. He knows this, because he's personally made it so—but he can't be everywhere, and he's certain this is part of his failure. He should have done more, should have tried to come forward as Yagi Toshinori, should have done _something _to stop this. This is still a societal problem, though—and he remembers it, remembers being abandoned like the dirt beneath someone's fingernails that they just trimmed off and threw away.

_Who would ever believe in a __**worthless quirkless**_** ?**

The old words come back to him and he tries not to flinch, because even after all these years they still hurt.

It's just a shadow of what Izumi's been facing every day of her life since Bakugo Katsuki walked into it, though. A shadow of a hurt, but one he knows very, very well.

This is far too close to his middle school years for his comfort. Her tears are slowly drying, sobs turning to dry hiccoughs midway through.

He honestly can't blame her for crying. She's had a really, really bad day.

She's nearly died three times, lost even the shadow of whatever kindness the brat has been showing her—most of his bullies did that too, and it made it all the worse when he recognized it—and saved her abuser's life. Little wonder she snapped at Death Arms; being scolded for doing the right thing hurts, and she _did the right thing _, regardless of how society sees it now.

And with all that, it means even more for her to have thrown herself into danger for that brat's sake—he thinks all the more of her for it because Toshinori could never have done that at her age, not without hesitation. Not like she did today.

He worries about what it means, that she's willing to give her life for the sake of her bully without hesitation. Even if her moves were calculated, she was putting her life in danger for his sake.

Now, he could do the same as she did, but that was more the instincts of a pro hero talking than Toshinori himself. No one should have to risk their life to save the life of their bully or their abuser if given a choice. No one should have to save the life of a person who'd told them to _kill themselves _, joke or no joke, idiot brat or not.

And what's worse is that she doesn't trust anyone in her life to tell them about this. She doesn't want to cause trouble—doesn't want to bring the authorities into it.

(++)

_Which means maybe she has before, and it hasn't gone in her favor._

Much as he'd like to pretend that never happens, the truth is it happens far too often for his liking. But since he was here, he can do something about it.

_I promise you, Midoriya Izumi, I will make this better._

He's not going to let this keep happening. Not to his student, not to his successor— the brat's probably being encouraged, and since he's a pro hero, he can stop it from happening. He can step in to help her and make it better.

"It's okay," he whispers, folding both his arms around her a little better, adjusting so she's not putting too much pressure on his side, which feels strangely warm—warmer than it has felt in years. "It's okay, _it's okay _; you're okay, Izumi-chan." He doesn't know what possesses him to use her first name, but she sobs again, he hopes out of relief, and he bends down to give her a full hug as best he can. "You're okay, I promise, I'm here. Don't worry. Why? Because I'm here, and it's all right now."

It's all he can do for her, offer words and try to listen, and it doesn't feel like enough. But it has to be—it's all he has. He can't be All Might for her, but it's _Yagi Toshinori _she's trusting with this information, not just All Might.

Not the Symbol of Peace, but the quirkless man behind him.

He's going to have to go through his contacts to see if he can help her avoid the brat in the long run, but right now he needs to hear her out. And, hopefully, earn her trust.

He'll have to do better at this than all of her previous teachers and other adults in her life. He'll have to be better than Gran Torino ever was for him. He needs to be better than her mother, who she clearly wants to protect from this or even fears won't believe her.

He has to be the teacher, maybe even the parent, he wanted Nana to be for him, before she died. Because if he won't, no one else will.

The thought hurts, but he knows Nana would be proud of him for this, and he knows young Midoriya _needs _him in a way he hasn't been needed before. It's a little funny how fast today's gone; this morning, he was expecting to meet with a prospective young hero who might be able to use One for All, maybe, or at least discuss it with Sir Nighteye, and now he's comforting a quirkless girl with the heart of a true hero, a hero like those who rose up during the Quirk Civil Wars and helped put an end to the needless fighting and death.

A girl who reminds him of the stories Nana told him of _her _mentor.

She pulls back after a little while "S-s-sorry," she whispers, futilely wiping at the drying snot on his shirt, and Toshinori shakes his head with a smile.

It's hardly the first time he's had someone cry on him, and he's certain it won't be the last. Teaching her not to cry isn't good; being able to cry makes you human. It might hurt in the short run but it helps, and showing weakness isn't a bad thing.

"Don't worry about it. You've had a long, and very bad day. It's okay to cry; crying helps you feel better." He catches her eye and smiles, hoping he doesn't look quite as horrifying as he's overheard people say he does, and Izumi, to his amazement, manages a watery smile back. "I've cried a lot after bad days, myself. Though we should get you some water soon, or you're going to get a headache from it."

"I-I don't have any left," she mumbles, and Toshinori swallows, remembering she gave him her water even after he'd crushed her dreams—taking care of him, _caring_about him, even though he'd shattered her dreams right in front of her face. "Don't—d-don't feel bad, you need it way more than me," she says, abruptly stern, like Nana would be, and he snorts. "What?"

"You just—remind me of someone," he smiles at her, a little more than before, "You're not the first person to tell me that."

"Good. They're right. You d-didn't know what was wrong; how could you know I'd had the day I had?" she replies, and she finally lets go.

He's not sure why, but his side feels warm. It doesn't hurt anymore.

It's the first time in years he's felt—oh, no.

When was the last time he really _touched _someone, hugged them; not just getting a pat on the arm here or there? In his heyday he knows he was far more freely affectionate than he is these days and—

Oh, _no _.

_Oh, shit._

No, no, no; it has been at least _a year _since he touched someone casually as Toshinori, and much longer since he had a hug in _either _form, and now he's had two hugs in the span of half an hour.

_Fuck _.

He'll just—he'll deal with it. He's the number one hero; he's untouchable, sometimes literally, and only Naomasa touches him casually these days and even that is hesitant because Toshinori doesn't react well to unexpected touch after so many decades fighting. He won't tell her, because she's the kind of person to give someone else what they need while not caring for herself.

But he also won't tell her _no _if she needs a hug. He can't imagine that Izumi gets much casual, positive touch either, not with the situation she's in. She probably gets it from her mother, and no one else. And while she has one person in her corner, he knows it helps to be able to talk to more people. And she still trusts him, as surprising as that is with how shitty he made her day.

He's surprised at how much better his side feels. How much lighter _he _feels.

_Naomasa is never going to let this go. _

_And I am definitely going to have to learn to stop flinching when people touch my side. Fucking damn it._

Right now he needs to focus on Midoriya. He'll be okay, but she won't be if he has a sudden worry attack—right now, she needs him.

"You're right. Um, I would still—like to check your ribs over, if that's okay," he says, stumbling over his words as she hands him back his phone. "You said—that you have a high pain tolerance, which is especially common with experiencing high levels of pain as a child or pro hero work, so I want to be sure I didn't break them earlier."

Izumi nods, "Okay. Um…" she looks around and he follows her movements. He only vaguely recognizes the area, but she manages a chuckle "Oh! We're near Dagobah Beach. I didn't realize."

"That's good?" he asks, doing a poor job of hiding his surprise.

Izumi wipes at her eyes, "Yeah. I-I mean—no chance we'll b-be overheard, o-or anything. It, uh, it st-st-started stinking p-pretty badly around h-here, so th-the only few people o-out here are desperate and scavenging. N-No one sticks around after a H-Hero Alert in the a-a-area, though Mom doesn't l-like me going out by myself a-around here."

It's an improvement. She's not exactly smiling, but she's not breaking down, either. She's doing a little better with something else to focus on.

It's not quite dark yet, but he thinks he can see what she means. The houses around them are dilapidated and rundown and the only car parked on the road has several smashed-out windows. It's not exactly a nice neighborhood, but it's also one where he, and she by extension, can pass unnoticed.

And it _stinks _.

"Y-Yeah, it does," Izumi says.

Whoops. He hasn't quite fixed his muttering after all.

_Could've been worse!_

He smiles, "Well, at least that means we don't have to worry about being overheard."

Toshinori's going to have to look into why there isn't CCTV footage of the area, though Naomasa told him there wasn't. That didn't mean it wasn't weird, even if the place is deserted.

Izumi chuckles, then winces, her hand making an aborted movement to shield her left side.

That's not good. He's glad he thought to carry a med kit with him, even if it's not much, and she's got gauze and burn cream in her bag—he saw it earlier when he spilled its contents everywhere. He covers a wince when he sees her torso when she glances down at it—she's _covered _in burn scars, tiny though they are, and more than a few of them are an angry-looking starburst-like shape that can only be from tiny explosions. Her ribs are bruised up; he can see them purpling and swelling, and he swallows hard against the sudden lump in his throat and the faint twinge in his own left side.

There's also an angry fresh burn mark, shiny and cracking and bright red with black edges, right over the bruise with a bit of burn cream still attached to it. The bandages and burn cream must've been torn off when he blew away the slime villain and it's also partly covered in sludge, and he can't tell if it's bleeding or not.

_You made this mess, _he tells himself sternly, _so __**you **__clean it the fuck up._

Swallowing back his first question, he says "How much pain can you tolerate—that is, um, h-how much higher is your pain tolerance?"

Izumi frowns "I haven't broken a bone since then, so I don't know." That's not good. "I, uh—I—I don't know, I'm sorry."

"It's okay; just tell me if you feel something _sharp _, which might be indicative of a broken bone," he has his own fucked up pain tolerance, after all—and broken bones sometimes masquerade as bruises. "If it's sharp, and not dull, then you need to see a doctor or at least wrap them up and be gentle with them. Preferably both to make sure nothing really, really nasty happens. Does it hurt to breathe?"

She nods and swallows, tensing as she tries to take another breath.

_Shit._

He nods back "That sounds broken and not bruised to me, but it can be hard to tell without an x-ray. Tell me if you feel a sharp pain," he presses along her bruised ribs, wincing every time he hears her hiss, and then she yelps, flinching and he flinches too, glancing to her face as she chokes out a breath, nearly white.

"Okay, okay," she's coughing a little, and he feels guilt rise up to choke him. "It's—it's definitely cracked, isn't it? That was really sharp. Ow. Oh, man, _ow_," she groans "Oh, shit. Mom's going to kill me, oh, shit, please don't tell her I said that, _shit,_ _ow_."

Toshinori can barely breathe from the sudden onset of panic because he doesn't know if _he _did that, not with his wind or with sending her flying, or the explosions because of the shockwaves they gave off, or with taking down the villain the second time. It was probably both—she'd probably bruised her ribs holding onto his leg and in the underpass and then the explosions' shockwaves, and his punch, broke them. He really hopes he didn't do it.

But he's got the sinking feeling he _did _.

"How many sharp pains did you feel?"

He'll feel guilty _later _, he has to focus right now. If she's really hurt he's going to have to take her to a hospital tonight for an X-ray after walking her home, and he'll have to be insistent. He knows the local doctors probably just wrap her ribs and be done with it, so if he wants a good job done he has to do it himself. A basic field check and some medical training helps.

"I don-don't want you to f-feel bad," she stammers, and he swallows—how did she know? "You look, kinda sad, and—upset, and, it's _really _not your f-fault. I-I got c-caught up in a-a-adrenaline earlier a-and I h-have a h-high p-pain tolerance. Bakugo—he—he, uh, he blasted me th-there a-at school today," which is even more disturbing, because the shockwaves from Bakugo's explosions could've cracked her ribs all by themselves. "It—please?"

She's right. Any other day, it wouldn't have happened. She's having a shitty day.

So is he. That doesn't mean he can't make hers better, though.

He breathes in, and out, like Torino taught him, through the panic before he has an anxiety attack, and nods. "I'll try, but that does mean I need to go back through some of my lessons, and work on control," he says, and he can't help the guilt creeping into his voice. "And I'll foot the hospital bill."

"Okay," she says, and she smiles at him, "Thanks. A-and um, y-y-you don't—" she starts, and then stops when he holds up a hand.

"Regardless of whose fault your broken ribs really are, and I suspect more than one given the bruising there, I made your injuries worse, and you have an incredibly high pain tolerance, which meant you didn't notice how hurt you were. It might not be my fault directly, but I was involved," he says, and Izumi hesitates. "I also don't like leaving anyone in pain, Midoriya-chan. Even if you _can _handle it, there is good pain, and there is bad pain, and a broken rib with a burn like yours is bad pain. Besides, you can't start training with broken ribs. Chiyo-sensei would have my head if I let you even start running like this, let alone training. How bad is it?"

Izumi frowns "Not that bad. Training?" she asks, "Wait, you said—inherit your—quirk? And…Yagi-san, you're registered as quirkless. That's why you're All Might's secretary. His name is Kino Kazuki. Right? Or is it? Since you're All Might, are you Kino Kazuki _and _Yagi Toshinori?"

She winces and takes in a sharp breath again as she shields her side, muttering a curse under her breath. That actually adds to her cute image, rather than subtracting from it.

He laughs "Slow down, Midoriya-chan. I'll answer you, I promise. The truth is that Kino Kazuki is the name I put down on all of my paperwork as All Might. Kino is the last name of the man who trained me," he flinched slightly at the memory of his ribs shattering under Sorahiko's kicks, and the lectures Chiyo gave Sorahiko afterwards. "H-he trained me pretty hard, a-and the public story is that he adopted me after f-finding out we have similar quirks. That's because Yagi Toshinori was already registered as quirkless, and, well," he shrugs, "It's a lot harder to go grocery shopping as Kino Kazuki, because everyone recognizes me. Not to mention how many people want to stop me for autographs if I go out like that, s-s-so usually I didn't, shortly after I went pro. My birth name is Yagi Toshinori—I was, _am _, an orphan, but I was quirkless until I turned sixteen."

He won't mention All for One or his government connections. Nor how when he was training, having a public identity known to the government could have and had gotten many up-and-coming heroes killed. No sense in scaring the girl with a villainous network he's already brought down.

Izumi frowns "But that doesn't make sense—w-well no, your privacy does, b-but your quirk doesn't. How were you quirkless until you turned sixteen? How can anyone be quirkless until…w-wait, what do you mean similar? Kino Sorahiko is the only pro hero on record with a relation to All Might and that's hidden pretty heavily, people suspect Kino's characters for his name are slightly different and he has the ability to blast kinetic energy out of his feet but it's not the same as—"

"Midoriya-chan, slow down?" she flushes brightly and mumbles something about wanting to die of embarrassment, or sink into the ground.

_She looks like a bunny with her face all red like that. She's __**definitely**__not going to have any trouble with public image._

It takes a bit of effort for him to refocus on checking the area until he's absolutely positive they're alone out here. That was some pretty impressive quirk analysis—he hopes she'll keep that up, since it will help her in the future. And that also means he's going to probably partially lose his student to Nezu at some point. At some point—though not yet.

Though now he's really curious how many quirk-related blog posts or forum posts she's made that've helped him and other pros out against villains. He checks forums regularly, since they often have useful information (and he's _curious _, and sometimes he's awake in the middle of the night and thinking about quirks helps him stop thinking about everything else).

"It's okay, really. You haven't offended me, but let me finish answering your questions before you ask more, okay? Kino Sorahiko, pro hero name Gran Torino, is my old teacher. All Might's quirk, on registry, is the ability to build up kinetic energy and manipulate it to enhance his strength and speed. The extent of it isn't really widely known. That is _not _the truth of hi—my quirk, though it is the closest explanation. It's actually a combination of quirks called One for All." Izumi's mouth falls open in surprise. "The original quirk has a power called _stockpile _, one that, according to the previous holder, combines the powers of the previous bearers into one. Every time it's passed on, the quirk gets more powerful, and it can be transferred—inherited between people. Usually, between mentor and student." He pauses, "I would like you to inherit One for All, and I would like to train you."

"M-m-me?" stammers out Izumi, green eyes wide, and a little shiny—shit, he hopes she doesn't start crying again. "W-why?"

"Because, Midoriya Izumi, of all the people I've met over the years, there are precious few who will save the lives of those they don't like. There are even fewer people who can act when pro heroes themselves are stuck in a bad situation like that, in such a way that motivates the pros, and fewer still who then have the courage to stand up to pros who've done the wrong thing. You are the least likely person I've ever met to take a power like this and use it for her own ends, rather than the common good—and I'm impressed more and more the more you talk to me,."

She turns brighter and brighter red as he compliments her until she resembles an American fire truck. It's adorable. He doesn't want her to pass out, though, so he waits. She risks a glance at him.

"B-but, I'm—I'm…" Izumi protests, hesitant. "I haven't been training! I'm—I'm just

a hero otaku, a kid—I don't..."

She has, but she doesn't realize it.

Toshinori knows she won't accept that, though. "You've been going to hero/villain fights since you could remember and watching all of them on television, am I right?" Izumi goes redder than a fire truck and looks at the ground. "It's nothing to be ashamed of—many children do, especially since pro heroes are a regular part of our society," he says with a smile. "But many of them don't learn strategy and analysis until after they start working with their own quirks. And even then, it's limited to their quirks. You analyzed the slime villain's quirk and broke down his weaknesses in your fight against him _and _you almost avoided encountering him to begin with. Then, when pro heroes couldn't figure out how to take him down, you used that knowledge to give them an opening—and you did exactly the right thing. You got my attention, and you saved yours and young Bakugo's lives in the process. And then you got all of their attention and made them sit up and _think _, Midoriya-chan. That's something pros have a really, really hard time with sometimes—they're so busy looking at the forest fire, they forget there's a river right next to them."

Izumi is so red he's afraid she's going to pass out, but she's still standing. She glances up at him and he's surprised to see tears in her eyes again, but she's—not crying, and he thinks that's a good thing. She does look like she's about to start spluttering denials at him.

Toshinori keeps talking. Best to keep her mind off it.

"Izumi-chan, you've taken your mind and you've used it over the years to analyze and learn from fights—and you're a natural at it. And as pros, we need to see those openings—the way you did. That can't be taught, only learned, and you don't have the natural hesitance most rookies have to question their instincts—you just _act _when something's wrong, and that takes most rookies at least six months to a year to learn. You have the heart and the mind of a hero. You just need some help getting to the starting line. With training, and experience, I believe you, Midoriya Izumi, can become a greater hero than I could ever be."

He's almost positive that if Midoriya Izumi had been trained to go up against All for One instead of Toshinori, the villain would have gone down with so much less loss of life than he _had _. Had Toshinori had her to consult, even _quirkless _; had they been similar in age—he could imagine her paving the way for a pro hero like Ragdoll, or becoming All for One's most hated enemy because her greatest weapon would always be her mind, even with One for All. He doesn't like thinking about this, but Midoriya Izumi has so much potential she would have been snapped up by a pro hero agency in a few years just as a support, and his agency would definitely have snapped her up when she graduated high school regardless, with how many pro hero fights she snuck out to. He's surprised his secretaries haven't recommended her to him yet. She might even be able to make a name for herself without One for All, though that would be far harder. He's surprised when she surges forward and hugs him again, chanting _thank you _over and over and crying, though this time they're happy tears.

He remembers being in her shoes; feeling like he'd never amount to anything, like his life was worth less than the lives of everyone else around him. He remembers being taught over and over again that his body and his instincts were his greatest weapon, not his mind, and he wishes Nana had told Gran Torino differently. That Gran Torino had taught him differently. He wishes that Gran Torino had focused more on his mind—on teaching Toshinori strategy, and tactics, rather than making sure he could survive first and win second.

Even if he knows why he was taught that way, he suspects those teachings did a lot of damage to Toshinori's own confidence and hindered him learning tactics and when to think in a fight.

He knows how much Izumi's analysis and her instincts mean to her, and unlike Gran Torino when teaching him, Toshinori intends to hone that instinct. He intends to make it one of her greatest weapons—not a weakness to exploit, but a strength to rely on. Thinking in a hurry is a difficult thing to master, but managing multiple inputs is something a pro has to learn to do. Torino had expected him to learn by doing; Toshinori now knows at the time, needed that, given how dangerous his childhood was, but Izumi will need more than that.

Izumi needs more support than he was given.

He intends to give it to her, because she deserves it.

"Thank you," whispers Izumi again, wiping her eyes. "Thank you, _so much _. You mean—you're—you're really going to…" she starts, hesitant.

"I'm going to train you to become my successor, yes. You want to get into UA, right?" she nods furiously. "Then you're going to need to train very hard. Your pain tolerance, much as I hate to say it, will work in your favor," he pauses, picking his words carefully, "But you're going to have to tell me when you're hurt, and pay close attention, because training while injured makes it worse, not better. We also need to keep you from breaking more bones, if possible. Chiyo-sensei will be quite angry with me if I encourage your bad habits," he teases, and she smiles, still tentative, rubbing at her eyes furiously to get rid of the last of her tears.

"Okay," she agrees, "I will. Um. Uh," she starts, and stops again "C-can I, at least tell mom you're, uh, training me? To get into UA? I-I understand if you c-can't tell her a-about, well, One for All, but, uh…"

He nods, "Of course. You won't be able to accept One for All as you are right now, anyway." Izumi frowns, and he explains, "I used to look like All Might all the time. The surgeries resulting from the fight, and not having a stomach, are why I look like I do right now. You need to be in peak physical condition, as it might hurt you to use it otherwise," he didn't want to tell her all of it, not right now, not when she wasn't in a position to understand how much pain it might bring her.

He didn't want to think about her ever getting as hurt as he was. Hopefully, with her gift, she wouldn't have to—she'd approach fights far smarter than he did at that age and that would make her less likely to rely on brute force when backed into a corner.

Izumi winces "Bakugo won't like it," she starts, and he shook his head.

"Let me handle him," Toshinori says, and Izumi hesitates. "Midoriya-chan," he starts, but she looks afraid again, and he takes a risk, ruffling her short curly hair and earns a surprised, pleased smile. "What he's doing is illegal. I won't get him into trouble for it," he adds, "I won't have to. All I have to do is casually mention it a few times, and I _do _work at All Might's agency." That makes her chuckle, a little watery. "If he believes you've been scouted as a support to a hero agency," he starts, because heroic agencies often scout young.

Izumi shakes her head rapidly "He'll be _so _jealous of m-me, Y-y-y-yagi-san," she stutters and he can feel One for All jump for the third time in response to her, and he thinks it's either his response to her fear the quirk's, and it can't be the _quirk _responding, can it? "He-he—he'll be so angry, he can't—I can't. L-let's see if he c-continues to b-bully me," she swallows, hard. "I-I think he's going to be mad he—he _owes _me now, but—I don't owe him anything. He doesn't owe me anything. Honestly, a-a lot of me g-getting hurt is m-me trying to," her breath hitches, but she presses on, her voice sounding as small as it had on the rooftop, and Toshinori feels like the dirt under his own shoes, "To be his friend. If I'm not around reminding him of—of the fact that I'm t-trying to get into UA, I-I should be able to h-h-handle him. H-he's just a b-bully."

Toshinori doesn't like it, but he understands that her teachers have most likely encouraged Bakugo's behavior. He very much doesn't want to make the situation worse, but he can at least lean on the teachers at her school. He can get her taken out of Bakugo's class, perhaps, but he trusts that Izumi knows what will set the explosive boy off. And being without his preferred target may make him seek her out, outside school—Toshinori knows that's what his bullies did when he suddenly stopped attending Korushanto Middle.

He doesn't and he can't watch her get hurt like this, not as his student. He's responsible for her now, and One for All jumps a little, again.

_What is __**wrong**__with me today?_

This is getting ridiculous. How many times will it jump when she's upset?

He really hopes she can't see the red lightning crackling over his fingertips. If he's not careful, he'll change by mistake—he hasn't used it by accident in _decades _.

This shouldn't be happening.

She smiles, and the scar warms again, as does his heart, and he lets it go. This is something to figure out later.

"How about this," he suggests, "See how much his behavior changes after today. If he continues bullying you, and targeting you, I can either provide homeschooling for you as part of your training, as I have a teaching license, or use my influence to get you moved out of his class. He's the worst at your school, yes?" Izumi ducks her head, mumbling something about it being her fault, but he waits for her to look him in the eye again. "Izumi-chan?"

She looks back at him, and nods, tears shining in her eyes. "Y-you'd—you'd do that?"

He carefully squeezes her shoulder, using as little force as he can manage "He targets you because you threaten him in some way. It is _not _your fault," he says sternly, as sternly as he can manage while she's giving him these wide, big eyes he's seen on babies and puppies before, and practically nowhere else—he just wants to fluff up her hair instead of focus on her, but she needs this. "It is _not _your fault that he targets you. He targets you because he has some need, some _desire _to prove that he is more heroic, or perhaps just better than you or more superior. It's a one-sided rivalry in his mind, am I right?" Izumi nods, hesitant. "Then you've done nothing to provoke him. You've even been friendly towards him, unless I'm mistaken?"

"I-I," she stammers, and stops. "I have been. I just…I just wanted my friend back," she whispers, downcast, "I wish—I wish he'd j-just _be _m-my friend again, b-but he hasn't r-really been my friend a-a-at all, I g-guess," she sniffles, but she doesn't start crying again. "This really sucks."

"It does," he says, and leaves his hand where it is, trying to ignore how his insides churn a little and he feels a sharp icicle in his chest, a faint hint of something like hurt but not, against his skin. "I'm sorry."

She wipes at her eyes again "It's not your fault," she says, and sighs. "It's his. I—I've been _stupid _," she whispers, "I thought—m-maybe, h-he'd go back t-to being_Kacchan _a-again—but I was wrong." Blinking, she looks up at him, determination and fire suddenly replacing sadness. "You said you were g-going to train me, a-ah, um, s-s-sensei?"

Toshinori beams at her; he can't help himself, it's a genuine grin, and though it has to look horrifying with how thin he is, she smiles like he's given her a gift. "Yes. You're already fast, and smart—that's good. I know several pros who'd have snapped you up in a heartbeat if you had a license, Ingenium included, with your skill set. My agency would have as well."

Izumi goes red, and splutters "B-but—but I'm, I'm…I'm _quirkless _," she protests.

"That means you're all the more special, then, doesn't it?" he counters, finally giving in and ruffling her hair, and Izumi opens her mouth, trying to come up with a response, and—falls short, her mouth closing. "But, yes, you will need the training if you wish to accept One for All. If you don't," he winces at the thought of her breaking bones as often as he did, "Well. I'd like to train you better than my sensei did me, but I'm not sure how much success I'll have. I was in the nurse's office at least once a month, from strain and growing pains because of when I took it on, so before I pass on the quirk, I'd like for you to be physically strong enough to stand it and the effects it has on your body." Izumi nods furiously. "So, first thing's first, we get you home, and I'll talk to your mother. We can work something out for a training schedule, and go from there, after your ribs are healed up."

"You—you mean it? You—I know it takes up to six weeks to heal a broken rib," Izumi falters, and Toshinori nods, turning her slightly so they start walking again.

"You just have to avoid certain kinds of exercise. Fortunately, I also have a few connections in the hero community, and I _might _be able to get a doctor with a healing quirk to take a look," he winks at her, already running through the short list of people he knows with healing quirks, and Izumi looks up at him in surprise.

"You—but—I—I thought th-they we-were just f-f-for pro heroes," she stammers, and he shakes his head with a smile.

"No, they aren't, and at least one knows who I am and wants me to pick a successor who has more sense than me," he quotes, making Izumi chuckle. "Hopefully she's not too mad at me for picking someone who throws herself at fires like I do."

"I—what?" Izumi stammers, but then stops. "What do you mean, throws yourself—you throw yourself at _fire _?"

Toshinori chuckles "Sometimes, if there's a burning building," he admits, "I need to see your back, Midoriya-chan, if your vertebrae are cracked, though it's likely just your ribs if you're having trouble breathing," she stiffens, but doesn't turn away, "I'm decent at field medicine, so even if you are injured I should be able to tell if you need to visit a doctor today or tomorrow. Right now, I would say tomorrow at the latest, since I can get you an appointment."

Izumi hesitates "I-I can press on it?" he doesn't want to push her, so he nods. Scars are difficult to share. "It doesn't hurt, other than—I think I've got a burn, b-but that's it. Um—and, r-really?"

Toshinori nods "Chiyo-sensei drilled it into my head every day that running on broken bones is both incredibly painful and can lead to being hospitalized," he says, and Izumi deflates a bit. He smiles "Don't worry—I think you'll like her. She's pretty famous, and she works at UA."

"F-famous? Y-You mean, there's—you're taking me to UA?!" yells Izumi, jumping to her feet, "I get to meet _pro heroes at UA _?!"

He grins "Yes," says Toshinori, getting to his feet.

"THAT'S AWESOME!" and then she proceeds to turn bright red and almost melt into the ground again, even as he hears her start muttering about Principal Nezu and how smart he is and how good UA is as a school and how many pros must teach there—Toshinori does his best not to laugh, but he can't quite hide a smile.

It's adorable; she's enthusiastic and embarrassed all at once and he's got no doubt the enthusiasm is real. She's embarrassed, but he's gotten her attention. Nudging ehr gently with his hand, he gets her to clam up and he sees an aborted flinch.

"Um—s-s-sorry," whispers Izumi, head bowed, and where is all that enthusiasm going?

_That's not good. _

"Don't be sorry," he says, "A lot of heroes graduate from UA, and you're not wrong about Nezu-kouchou. He's quite intelligent and I think he would enjoy meeting you. And," he cycles back to one of the things she muttered, something about an ethical question, "Given that I'm personally connected to their doctor, as she patches me up a lot, she's going to be happy to see I'm taking this seriously. She's the one who's always lecturing me for getting into arguments with pro heroes even when I'm acting as the quirkless secretary."

Izumi blinks "You argue with pro heroes? Why isn't that publicized?"

Toshinori winks "Some of them don't really like paperwork, and others like to try and work for me only to mistreat the 'quirkless secretary,'" he adds the air quotes for her benefit, "And then find out the hard way that I, and my interns, use this as a way to keep the less heroic heroes from interning with me. I _did _throw Endeavor out of my hero agency once; that wasn't just a tabloid story," he adds, and Izumi's mouth falls open. "I'll tell you the full story, if you like. And before you ask, I did it without my quirk—I'm pretty strong without mine, you know," and is gratified to see her splutter and gasp.

"Really?! Please? Please, please, _please _?" Her eyes are full of admiration and so is her face—she _genuinely means it _.

Something very like joy fills him and he tries very hard not to choke or stagger, because he hasn't felt this in years. Decades even. Which is staggering because he does have people that care, both about Yagi and about All Might—but this is different.

She actually wants to hear this story. That gaze, and this—look, turned on _Yagi Toshinori _—it's a heady feeling, almost like he's caught up in her excitement. And maybe he is, in a way. She's practically bouncing, vibrating in place.

She's still treating him like her hero, and he's a little floored by that.

He can't deny her the story even if he wants to. And he doesn't—he doesn't _like _Endeavor, and thinks the younger pro needs to get over his own stupid, foolish pride, trying to compete with All Might like being a pro hero is a contest rather than a serious job. It's not; it's all about who can save more people. He wants nothing to do with Endeavor's one-sided rivalry and he sure as hell doesn't like the man.

But All Might isn't allowed to dislike people. He's supposed to be better than that.

Yagi Toshinori, on the other hand, is allowed to bodily throw heroes out the door of All Might's hero agency. And he has, though he sometimes regrets it when he ends up in the tabloids for it. No one wants to admit a quirkless secretary can outmaneuver them, after all.

"Well," he begins, "It all began when Endeavor decided he wanted to employ me, and thought he could entice me to work at his agency rather than All Might's. He envies my ability to do paperwork so neatly and quickly," he can't help chuckling, and Izumi does, too.

He smiles at her joy, and continues with the tale as he walks her home, unable to help but think of Nana again—she would've loved Midoriya Izumi right off the bat.

He'll do right by Izumi the way Nana couldn't by him, because it's what Izumi deserves.

* * *

**Yep, that's about what I think Toshinori's actual **_**I am a concerned adult who has experience being bullied and discriminated against**_** response would be. (Toshi is probably also acting as a vector for my own frustrations with the System that in canon fails to address these problems.**

**(Look, if I were All for One, I would _absolutely_ infiltrate the government to look for my enemies. Especially that annoying blond one :P who keeps messing up my plans.) Hence Toshinori's 'public' facing Kino Kazuki identity and Izumi's confusion.**

**(Regarding names, my h/c since his name hasn't been released, and because I keep seeing Sorahiko around the internet, is that Gran Torino's first name is Sorahiko (written as 'sky' 'fire' and 'child') (and note, I don't know his real name, and by now he just goes by Gran Torino except to Toshinori and any OC relatives I give him), and his last name is Kino, as in 'Energy of' (Ki no) like Kino Makoto from Sailor Moon. Seeing as the other characters' names are either puns on their color or what they can do (Midori = green, and Kaminari Denki literally translates to Lightning Current, not to mention 'Shouto' literally can be written combining the kanji for ice and fire), to name a few, I thought this made sense.)**


	7. Chapter 7: Toshinori Intervenes

**Toshinori tries to help Izumi. Izumi tries to help Toshinori.**

**Or: Toshinori is a Concerned Adult, and makes sure Izumi gets home safe since she's not feeling good.**

**I wrote this during Camp NaNo in July - chapters 8 and 9 are still in the works, but I managed to finish copy editing this in August.**

**Things to watch out for: Izumi still thinks of herself as a useless Deku. That's going to change, slowly, but it's going to take some time. Nothing trigger-y happens in this chapter other than Izumi feeling like crap because someone she thought was her friend, isn't really her friend (which always sucks). Also, there is some explicit discussion of quirkless discrimination, which is going to be more prevalent in this story as we continue down this road.**

**Credit to Orcus for helping me edit this - originally this went in a totally different direction, and a worse one, so thank you!**

* * *

As he begins telling the story, Toshinori's mind drifts back to the day he finally lost his temper with Endeavor. He feels awkward thinking about it, so, rubbing the back of his neck, he admits to his own weakness that day. But the easiest place to start is at the end, so he starts there.

(Privately, he hopes this will help her understand that bullies exist even as pro heroes, as well, but he's not sure how to explain it. Also, he can tell Izumi is both hanging on his every word and worried about what he's going to say. That anxiety of hers is familiar — he's dealt with it more often than he can say — and he hopes he can alleviate her fears a bit with this. And maybe, he can make her smile.)

"So, this isn't legally admissible in a court of law, and we can still be scheduled for panels together, but — technically, as Yagi Toshinori — I have a restraining order against Endeavor."

Watching her stop and visibly stutter is adorable. Truly. The first thing that comes to mind with that short, puffy hair is a bunny — and now he can't unsee it.

Izumi recovers enough to talk "What? You—you _what_?"

Her voice is loud and Toshinori manages to fight off an embarrassed flush.

"All M—Yagi-san, wh-what—how? Why?"

"It's — rather a long story," he says with a smile. "I think you might find it funny, though. I hope you're not too big of a fan of his, Midoriya-chan. He's not the kindest hero."

That's an understatement. For him to say 'not the kindest hero' regarding Endeavor is the equivalent of someone else saying 'a fucking moron,' but he doesn't want her to start copying him and swearing in English. Chances are, her mother or teachers understand it, even if she doesn't, and he doesn't want to set a bad example.

And now he's thinking about setting an example.

God, he really is in deep, isn't he?

Izumi scowls "I don't like him very much," she says, and there's a bitter edge to her voice he doesn't like. "He's brutal. He uses too much force, he — he melts buildings when he fights…" she stops, frowning "He didn't try to _melt _your agency, did he?"

That's a logical conclusion, but no, he didn't.

Toshinori chuckles "Well, not exactly — he _does _still have an image to uphold." Izumi 'hmphs' and Toshinori nods. "It started with paperwork, really. All Might doesn't exactly — do his own paperwork. Or, well, I _do _, but Yagi does it," he stops, uncertain.

Because technically, Yagi Toshinori is the one that does all his paperwork. The public just doesn't know Toshinori and All Might are the same person.

"Right, and you were working with him?" asks Izumi; Toshinori shakes his head. "Then who?"

"I was working with one of his secretaries. Endeavor employs secretaries for the same reason All Might does," he explains, "It's rare for a high-ranking pro to do their own paperwork. There's a lot of it. So, he met me when I went to work with his then-secretary, on — do you recall the Hosu earthquake?"

Reflexively he winces, remembering the sheer number of casualties caused by that quirk. Its link to All for One wasn't obvious at the time (he'd found out later that the villain was testing a quirk), but he'd been on duty and every single hero on duty — from a then-young Ingenium to All Might — was called in to work. He'd spent a long time pulling survivors and dead bodies out of the wreckage.

It wasn't the first time he'd come across so many dead bodies, but it was one of the worst earthquakes he'd ever seen.

"Yes," Izumi winces, "It — it did some structural damage to our apartment, uh…not a lot! Just, uh, yeah. We felt it here."

Toshinori nods "In the aftermath, since All Might collaborated with many heroes, I was called in to do paperwork with each of them. One of them was Endeavor, so I went to his hero agency — he took over my old hero agency's building," he broke off, chuckling, "I'm not sure why; I just thought it was funny. Even used All Might's old office."

Izumi goes bright red, but snorts "Uh—m-maybe it's b-because it was y-yours?" she squeaks when he ruffles her hair again, and because she's looking away, Toshinori lets himself relax a little at the contact.

"Maybe, but he's never liked me, so I'm not sure." Toshinori replies, and _that _gets Izumi to scoff and snort at the same time, a sort of — sneeze-like sound that makes him smile. "He noticed how good my work ethic was, I think, and started trying to hire me." He shares a chuckle with Izumi at this, "The first was just over email, a job offer with a contract attached. I, of course, said no. He didn't take it well."

Izumi sputters, half-chuckling and half-embarrassed, and manages "Y-Y-You told him _no _?"

Toshinori raises an eyebrow "Of course I did. Can you imagine, All Might working for a rival agency?"

That makes her laugh, and she doesn't wince. Good. It's a sign he didn't break her ribs clean through — a crack is worrying, but cracked ribs aren't inherently dangerous to someone's health, and rest is the only real cure. Rest or a healing quirk.

He still can't believe the paramedics _missed _her injuries in favor of scolding her.

"Anyway," Toshinori continues, to keep her mind off things, "I spent the next three months fielding job offers from him. The secretaries started getting irritated with the extra paperwork routed through our office by then, and a few of the new hires were worried — at first — that I'd be leaving them. I had to explain to everyone that I had no intention of leaving the All Might agency, and," he smiles, "HR came to see me — that is, All Might — about Yagi's loyalty and how much I paid — well, him."

Izumi gasps "Really?" then she snickers, "How — _how _, I don't —"

Toshinori grins, then remembers how horrifying he looks and restricts himself to a smaller smile "Well, Yagi and Kino _are _two different people on paper, as you know." She splutters in disbelief, thankfully not looking at him askance or with disgust. "So I, of course, wrote up a better contract than Endeavor would be able to offer. He started sending people by the agency after the third month — I think he got tired of rejection emails. I wrote personalized ones at first and then, when he didn't leave me alone, I emailed the same form letter to him until he started sending interns by the agency." Toshinori pauses, thinking "After a month of personal rejections, he came himself. That was…interesting."

He lets his mind drift back to that day as he starts telling the story. Fifteen years ago and it's still an amusing, if embarrassing story. Because Enji has no idea who he tried to hire all those years ago, who he harassed until he ultimately got Toshinori to take out a restraining order on him, and even fifteen years on the order is still a valid thing. Naturally, Toshinori has to be aware the asshole's within three hundred feet of him, but even if they have an invitation to the same event he can legally ask the other to leave if he's harassing more people — or Endeavor ends up facing heavy fines in court.

Explaining the _why _is going to be a bit more difficult, even with Izumi hanging on his every word.

That's going to take some adjustment — he's not used to this hero worship from someone that knows his story. Most of them see him as flawed — human — but not as a hero. Yagi Toshinori is just a secretary, after all.

_**Fifteen years ago, All Might Hero Agency**_

This is the fourth time this week Endeavor has come into his personal office to deliver a personalized job offer, and this time Sir isn't here to stop the man. He's busy finishing his final exams at UA so he can work at the agency full-time, and Toshinori won't call him or any of his other assistant heroes in just to remove the No.2 Hero. This time, Toshinori doesn't even raise his eyes from his paperwork — he's busy working on the paperwork for taking down a villain known for destabilizing buildings and how All Might got involved in civilian clothing.

It _was _his (All Might's) day off (that is, yesterday), but he couldn't just leave people to die if he could help it. So here he is on his (that is, Yagi's) day off, doing paperwork for a villain attack provoked by a takedown of some of All for One's Japanese operations, and Endeavor's just been shown in. Thankfully, Hanako warns him in time to be prepared for the pro hero to come in.

He wants nothing to do with the man who, by virtue of being valedictorian of his class and Japan's No.2 hero, has decided he has to hire Toshinori _away _from All Might to ensure he gets the best secretary in Japan. Sure, Toshinori knows he's developed something of a reputation by now but in all honesty he hadn't expected it to attract Endeavor or other heroes like him. Endeavor especially has been a problem, as the man doesn't take 'no' for an answer — he just wants Toshinori to work for him, consequences (and identities) be damned.

And he's been rude to the management, which doesn't endear him at all to Toshinori. He's heard what working for Endeavor is like and even if he was a different person from All Might, which he isn't, he wouldn't take the job (the man is a complete ass when not in the field and when on a job is unnecessarily brutal at best). His administrative staff have turned the man away before, but this is getting ridiculous and Toshinori's patience is wearing thin.

_Doesn't he have better things to do with his day than try to hire me?_

He has a villain's large operation to take down, and paperwork to do, and Endeavor is interrupting his morning.

(Thankfully he's not in as All Might. All Might can't get annoyed with or angry with people who don't really deserve it and, for all he's been annoying, that's all Todoroki Enji is; annoying. It's days like these that sometimes he wonders if having two identities is a bad thing, though, because Endeavor is so damned persistent about trying to hire him.)

"I want you to work for me, Yagi-san," he says again, folding his arms and trying to look impressive.

(It looks like a cheap imitation of All Might's folded-arms pose. Really, the extra fire — and the beard, when did he get a _fire beard? _— Are unnecessary. Toshinori's just grateful Dragon's internship culminated in Toshinori paying to fireproof _everything _because the poor man kept sneezing and setting the curtains on fire.)

"And I've already told you, Endeavor; the answer is no. I'm quite happy working here," he says, looking up with a polite smile affixed to his face.

(Toshinori's really getting sick of this. Still, he is polite, and his teacher would be above all else.)

"Surely I can offer you better," Endeavor presses and Toshinori silently thanks Dragon for being so clumsy — otherwise, the Flaming Hero would've set fire to Toshinori's reports. Fireproof paper is a godsend. "You're under-appreciated here, and over-worked. This is your day off, and your boss has you coming in and working overtime."

Toshinori pinches the bridge of his nose. Working for Endeavor is, according to his former secretaries, an absolute nightmare. The man only praises you rarely and comes down very hard on anyone who does anything with less than one hundred percent accuracy and efficiency. Ducking out of the office for coffee or being kind to his employees is frowned upon and he runs the place like a lord did over disobedient _samurai _.

He represses a sigh "I get good benefits, overtime pay, and I am happy working here. All Might gives me days off whenever I ask for them, and I hardly have to file hazardous conditions paperwork — and I volunteered to come in today, Endeavor. Again, I am happy working here, and have no interest in working for you."

"Bullshit," snorts Endeavor and Toshinori carefully holds his smile. "What can he _possibly _have on you? I've _seen _his employment contracts — I've also _offered _you much better!"

_What the actual __**fuck**__? He thinks I'm being __**blackmailed**__?!_

"What will it take for you to see that he's just using you? Money, better benefits, overtime pay, more holidays — women?" guesses Endeavor, "Or men, if you're not into women?"

Toshinori's vision goes red and he grits his teeth. Endeavor can't see it but he has to fight not to activate One for All just to glare at the man, and as it is, when he gets to his feet he uses all 7'2" of his height and his considerable frame to look _down _at the other man. Endeavor glares up at him.

"I think you need to leave," says Toshinori, his voice as soft and calm as he can make it. "Or I will call security."

"You," grits out Endeavor but he says nothing more, his flames flaring high enough to nearly singe Toshinori's hair. He tucks both stray bangs behind his ears, "You'll regret this," he promises.

Toshinori smiles, but it isn't a nice smile, "I don't think so," he says firmly. "Leave me alone, Endeavor. And leave my office. _Now _."

Endeavor glares, flaring his fire, but Toshinori's felt worse and he's reasonably sure he can take out Endeavor without the other hero managing to land more than one blow on him. One for All has made him durable, certainly, but he's also wearing flame-proof clothing; another holdover of Dragon's internship that hasn't gone away for any staff. Toshinori glares down at him until the hero — if he can truly be called that — backs down. He's never been fond of heroes who use their quirks to intimidate others.

_Looks like I was right about you, Todoroki. _

"Tch. Just you wait — when All Might fucks you over, you'll be begging to work for me," sneers the No. 2 Hero, and Toshinori folds his arms.

"Let me walk you out, Endeavor," he says, polite smile firmly in place, and the other growls at him.

Toshinori ignores it, bypassing the other; Endeavor grumbles "Damn puffed up quirkless hoity-toity bastard," at him, and Toshinori bites back a sarcastic retort.

He shows the other to the door, watching as he stomps in an effort to — possibly damage the flooring, possibly just leave scorch marks; regardless, Ryukyu's done far worse by accident — and Toshinori makes a mental note to have Mouri look into a contractor to make sure he hasn't done any structural damage. Better to be safe than sorry, working in a tower.

The elevator ride to the ground floor is quiet. Toshinori keeps his eyes on Endeavor, just in case he tries something else petty to get Toshinori to talk to him but the other is steadfastly not looking his way. Thankfully, no one else gets into the elevator with them.

On the ground floor, Toshinori adds "After you," and Endeavor snarls as he exits the elevator, his fire licking and nearly melting the elevator's doorjamb.

_Wonderful. More property damage._

Toshinori's going to have to pay for that. Still, the expressions on the faces of the people in the lobby, including both pro heroes — Ryukyu and Ectoplasm — and his receptionist, Hanako's cousin Yamato Noriko. There are a few others he doesn't recognize, but all of them give Endeavor a wide berth as Toshinori opens the door for him, and Endeavor stalks out, huffing to himself and pulling out a phone. Toshinori can't make out what he's saying, but even with the fire on his face thinks it has to do with him.

He takes a deep breath, and pulls himself together. There is no sense in scaring everyone who works in his building even if he _is _angry.

"Um — Yagi, sir?" asks Noriko timidly, and he turns to look at her, smiling.

"Yes, Noriko-san?" she makes an 'eep' sound, and turns red.

"W-was that — d-did he t-try to hire you a-a-again?" she stammers out, barely able to look at him.

He's not exactly sure why, not even after all these years. No one's really looked twice at Yagi Toshinori.

"Yes. I told him to leave. Hopefully, he won't bother us anymore," he says, checking to see that Endeavor has tried and failed to fry — a sign on the street. He represses a sigh "Please contact Koyumi Eri and let her know I need to talk to a contractor, and don't use the elevator until we've called for repairs. He melted the wiring again and almost ruined the doorjamb."

Noriko nods, and returns to her computer. Instantly, both Ryukyu and Ectoplasm are on their feet and heading for him, attention that Toshinori accepts knowing they're both concerned.

"Did he threaten you?" demands Ectoplasm as soon as he's within range, Ryukyu already checking to make sure he's left.

"Why didn't you _call _someone?" echoes Ryukyu "We don't think you're helpless, but you're not fireproof! He could've seriously hurt you."

"And risk a lawsuit?" Toshinori jokes, shaking his head "He's upset that I won't work for him. Threw a temper tantrum when I refused again. That's _all _he did, I promise; he didn't hurt me. I showed him the door." It occurs to him that he's just made an enemy, and he groans "I'm going to have to contact legal over this. Both of you, All Might's not in today but he did leave me assignments for you. They're on my desk, but we'll have to take the stairs."

And he is a little more worried about Endeavor doing something to try and discredit his agency or get him, as Yagi, fired, than he is about pro hero patrols today. He puts up with Ectoplasm's mothering as the two pros follow him to the stairs and up to his office. He's going to have to be careful today; he can't put in spontaneous All Might appearances for a couple of hours, since Ectoplasm's going to be mothering him for at least the next two hours.

Still, recounting what happened puts all three of them in a foul mood.

Later that day he gets a standing ovation in the staffroom when Ectoplasm barges in, makes a short speech about what he said to Endeavor and how he walked the pro out of their agency _again _, and tells them all what he said to Toshinori, and _about _Toshinori (or, well, All Might). He also gets a pro hero escort while on agency premises for the rest of the week, which makes it really difficult to put in All Might appearances. After about half a day he makes himself busy with paperwork and tricking his escort — Ryukyu, because she's fireproof — into working closely enough with All Might and other pros that she forgets to keep as close of an eye on him.

He receives notice of a lawsuit at the end of the week that Endeavor files against him for harassment and libel. Toshinori routes it to Koyumi Eri, an up and coming lawyer who works with heroes doing damage and harassment in particular, and by the end of the month, he has a restraining order against Endeavor.

Needless to say, it's all his staff can talk about for the next two months, at least until an organized crime ring pops up that has everyone working overtime. Jokes still fly around the office after the fact, though, comparing villains to Endeavor.

_**Flashback End**_

Toshinori does his best to keep the sordid details out of Izumi's hearing — including the fact that Endeavor is still compared to an idiot crime boss in his office, on a regular basis — but it makes her so happy he can't help himself. And, quite frankly, it's more than a little endearing to have her comment in between sentences. She even mentions that maybe his beard is fake, though he's not sure she realizes she's doing it.

This kid is adorable.

_The people at the agency would love her._

A part of him hates the fact that she's been put down for her quirklessness all these years — even though he understands it, he hates it. Hopefully, this helps her take her mind off her injuries — and the fact that he's probably going to have to call UA and see if Chiyo-sensei has any openings to see her. Leaving Izumi injured is the last thing he wants to do.

He thinks he understands why Nana used to ruffle his hair. As Izumi's giggling over the organized crime ring, he can't help himself — he ruffles it again, and she beams at him.

_Yeah, _thinks Toshinori, _I think I get it now, sensei._

The whole sordid story of Endeavor trying to entice _All Might _to work at his agency, without realizing that Yagi Toshinori is All Might, unfolds over the course of his walk home with Izumi. And it's hilarious; she can't help but laugh at the end of the story, which equates Endeavor to an organized crime ring boss who went down like a wad of wet paper.

She can just imagine the headlines now; _"Pro Hero Endeavor, secretly a wet paper villain _," and she shares the joke with Toshinori, who starts laughing along with her. She immediately goes red when she realizes she made her hero laugh — but then it sorta kinda makes sense?

"Actually, the entire office had a party when the restraining order went through," All Might—no, Yagi says and Izumi can't help the tiny giggle that escapes her. "He was pretty upset."

"I can't imagine he likes you very much," she manages, wincing again as her ribs remind her that she _did _likely break one of them today.

She's relieved that All M—Yagi doesn't seem to notice. She doesn't want to be taken to a hospital — doctors ask too many questions, and she doesn't want to explain things to her mother.

"No, he doesn't; he actually threatened to burn my apartment building down when I saw him next," he says cheerfully, "My landlady wasn't pleased with him and sued the agency over the threat, and won. He also doesn't know where I live anymore, since I had to move after," he pauses, "well," and then gestures to his side.

Izumi winces in sympathy.

Oh. _Of course _. Of course he had to move after the injury. Izumi feels a little bad for not remembering sooner and rushes to apologize, because she hugged him and_she might have made it worse _, but stops when she sees the slight frown on his face.

_Why…? _

She knows she won't get an answer if she asks him and if she apologizes — something feels wrong. The air thickens a little and she feels strangely sad, like someone's drawn attention to her quirklessness again.

Izumi swallows the apology and chuckles, "W-well, d-doesn't that mean h-he's even a-angrier not finding you?" she asks.

The tension drains out of him and All M—Yagi shrugs, chuckling. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since, except once maybe in the grocery store. He spent quite a bit of money covering up the incident."

"I bet he did," Izumi scowls; just thinking of the constantly-flaming asshole makes her angry. She glances up at All Might, remembers she's not alone and flushes. "I d-don't really like him, my-myself."

Endeavor, no matter how much he's disliked by women and children all over Japan, is still the nation's Number Two Hero, if not in terms of popularity then in terms of strength and capability. He's strong, traditionally so, not very kind, and very much the image of masculinity to a lot of up and coming pros—especially more traditional men. He's often cited as the 'to the point, a bit rough, but gets the job done, type of hero,' and provides a traditional, quieter alternative to All Might's public persona. More people admire All Might, but several young boys and men admire Endeavor for his strength and 'cool' nature and attitude, which is how he's managed to obtain the position of No.2 Hero. Though she's seen many forum posts and analyses of his faults that somehow never stick around online — Izumi's screenshots folder contains proof that they existed, but the posts are deleted within a week of posting — about his poorer skills on-scene, or property damage. She's kept them ever since she was eight.

That kind of information suppression makes her _really _angry. What right does he have to keep people from talking about his mistakes? _All Might _doesn't do that — but then, he also probably reads his critiques and knows when to listen and when not to. The flaming dickhead doesn't even try.

All M—Yagi nods "I don't blame you," he says, and smiles as they turn onto another street.

Izumi looks around and realizes they're less than three blocks from her house. She swallows, thinking of Inko's reaction — a hug right now will hurt — and winces because she really, really doesn't want to have to talk to Inko about this. This is going to be really, really hard and she doesn't want to think about it either.

And Mitsuki's going to be there. Bakugo Mitsuki is going to have to _thank her _and Izumi doesn't want to think about what that means, because she's saved Kach—Bakugo from dying. It's just going to suck.

"There is video footage," he continues, winking at her and Izumi smiles, "which, obviously, I can't show to anyone outside the agency — but training with me counts as being part of the agency, so I'll bring you a copy this week."

"Wait…"

_Training with him! Training with All Might! Training with All Might!_

It echoes through her head for a few moments before she realizes he's waiting for an answer.

"You—really?!" Izumi tries not to splutter "really?! You really — really want to train me?!"

_Me?! As All Might's student?! He's so busy though, how does he have time? Why _me? _Why quirkless little Midoriya Izumi who can't even run in to save an asshole without crying?!_

_Wait wait wait HE ALREADY SAID HE WANTS ME AS HIS STUDENT DIDN'T HE OH NO OH __**SHIT —**_

She's not aware she's started crying again, or muttering, until All M—Yagi stops her with a gentle hand on her shoulder and offers her his handkerchief. Izumi accepts with a choked sob of — she doesn't even know what, struggling to think through her tears.

"I did tell you that you could become a hero," he says and Izumi's heart begins to race, her eyes stinging. "And I wasn't just kidding around when I said what I did, earlier."

He doesn't say anything more but Izumi knows what he said.

_I want you to inherit my power._

She's not really thought about what that means — Mitsuki's presence at her mom's apartment had just driven it straight out of her head. She's not sure _how _but she forgot.

_How could I forget? All Might himself wants __**me**__to be his successor. The next Symbol of Peace…_

_But how can I possibly be good enough? He thinks I'm good enough but am I?_

"I," Izumi says, voice shaking. She wipes furiously at her eyes, using his handkerchief "Th-thank you. I, um," she can't help it — she moves forward to give him another hug.

He stiffens in surprise, then carefully reaches down to hug her back — oh shit, she's forgotten about his injury, but he doesn't seem like he's hurt by her hugging him — and when she lets him go, he's smiling.

It's warm and it makes her feel both safe and like she can run up a mountain without stopping. She's never had an adult look at her like that before. Not even her mom, who does her best — but can't ever stop apologizing for Izumi being quirkless.

"I'll—I'll d-do my best to make you p-proud, th-then," her voice catches on the words and he ruffles her hair with a smile.

"Just be yourself," he says, almost too quietly for her to hear. Almost. "Come on — lenient though she might be, I want to make a good impression on your mother," All M—Yagi jokes, and Izumi manages a chuckle.

"Y-you'll already have done that," she protests, but leads him along the road toward her house. "You w-walked me h-home and made sure I'm — " Izumi chokes on the tears that want to escape again just _thinking _of her bad day. "I'm going to be okay."

All Might nods "I know you are," he says, and follows it with "How did you break down the villain's weaknesses? You had only a few moments to look at him."

This is familiar territory, and Izumi finds herself talking before she's aware of it "W-well, I-I mean, I just — he w-was moving his eyes and his mouth around but he didn't _get rid _of them, and I thought that didn't make any sense. Why would you keep those if you didn't need to? His eyes made sense, s-since he was trying to keep an eye on things but his mouth was vulnerable. Ba-Bakugo could've easily fired a blast into there even w-with his arms restrained. S-so there had to be another reason — like his quirk not allowing him to turn his entire body _into _slime, but just most of it. So that meant he had to have a weak point or two, and — well, Kamui Woods couldn't get too close to his eyes during the fire but they had to stay open, and I didn't really think he had much protection over them except blinking. If he'd had an opening or if Death Arms had managed to find something to throw," she pauses as they reach her apartment building and realizes she's been rambling. "Uh…w-well, this is me."

"Right," All M—Yagi says, nodding to her and she swallows. "Also, Midoriya-chan, that was very good thinking. I'm impressed."

Izumi goes bright red as she goes to open the front door. Thankfully, the lobby is empty, and she's able to get to the elevator with Yagi unmolested. She doesn't know what to say or what to think right now. Her hero just complimented her _again _.

_Very good thinking _, his voice floats back to her and she splutters out a few mumbles, not really able to say much.

All Might smiles at her and Izumi manages to smile back, still bright red. She doesn't know what to think about the compliment or the fact that he doesn't find her rambling annoying — it's weird, and for that matter, he's weird, even for an adult. Nice, but weird, because most adults don't like doing quirk analysis or hearing hers, and her voice is often drowned out in a crowd. Mostly by the kids with quirks.

"You're talking out loud again," he says gently, and Izumi clams up and wants to sink through the floor, again as the elevator arrives. "It's okay — you've had a very long day, Midoriya-chan. I'd be surprised if you weren't more than a little worried."

"T-true," she mumbles, and then it occurs to her that Into might try to feed Yagi. "S-sorry. Can y-you h-have some t-tea? W-w-w-wait, you d-don't have a st-stomach, h-how can you eat?"

Yagi turns a little red "Uh, I-I—certainly, and uh, I c-can still have tea. I was planning on walking you to your door anyway, just in case." That's weird; she'll have to look into it, just to be sure. "I have t-t-to avoid m-many spices and f-foods, and eat smaller amounts th-throughout the day," he admits, rubbing the back of his neck and turning red, "It's—really not a problem."

"Well, I, uh—I was asking because m-my mom m-might insist on f-feeding you t-today," Izumi stammers as they step into the building elevator. "S-so uh. If there is a-anything y-you can e-eat, I'll try t-to set it aside for you."

She's so grateful it's empty. Any sort of party or her neighbors recognizing her is just going to make her already-shitty day even worse and she knows they'll recognize her. They'll want to tell her she did the wrong thing or the right thing and it's just too much attention.

"Th-that's really not necessary," All Might replies, and Izumi raises an eyebrow as the elevator dings, and they step out.

"I know, b-but mom kind of—she insists, you'll see, a-and y-you did save my l-life," Izumi mumbles as the elevator door opens.

Mercifully the halls are empty, too, though she can hear several people arguing through one of the almost-open doors. She leads Yagi past them, ignoring the shout of_Hey, it's Midoriya _, from one of them as her neighbor Yakumo Kiba, quirk Excellent Hearing, sticks his head out the door of his apartment. He says something, but she can't hear it.

Taking a deep breath, she steps up to the door.

Immediately, she knows her mom's not alone. She can hear at least three separate voices in the apartment — Midoriya Inko, Bakugo Mitsuki, and their next-door neighbor Kobayashi Kobayashi. It's Mitsuki's gasp as the news report is clearly turned up that has her frozen in place, hand outstretched to grab the door handle.

She can't move.

All Might moves for her, though, a solid and protective presence as he straightens up as best he can. He knocks twice on the door and Izumi swallows. She can do this.

She _can _do this. She opens the door to a set of voices that immediately cut off — there are four people, not three; the last one is their downstairs neighbor, old Mr. Toruki — as they all turn to stare at her. Izumi swallows hard as she takes them all in and without meaning to, takes a stumbling step back into Yagi.

She doesn't know what to say.

Kobayashi catches her eye and smiles at her, deep purple-blue eyes twinkling "Well, if it isn't the hero of the hour," she says, and Izumi staggers slightly, hand fisting in Yagi's shirt before she really starts panicking, her insides going cold.

All Might—Yagi, his name is Yagi, _I can't keep calling him All Might _—places a hand on her shoulder, gentle and firm and another on her hand where it's fisted in his shirt, and Izumi swallows and straightens. She can do this. She feels him gently unwind her fingers from his shirt as she forces herself to relax.

Everyone's eyes flit up to the very tall man that's escorted her home.

"Good evening," greets Yagi, taking some attention off of Izumi as she slips out of her shoes, hissing slightly as she bends and puts pressure on her likely-broken ribs. _Ow _, that still only feels bruised and it hurts; she doesn't want to go to a hospital but she's not sure she'll have a choice since it hurts much more than it did an hour ago. "Mrs. Midoriya," he nods to her, and presumably to Bakugo Mitsuki, whose wide, wine-red eyes are fixed on Izumi.

"G-good evening," greets Inko, before Mitsuki makes it to Izumi and almost moves to hug her, but stops herself.

Izumi's still pressed against All—against Yagi.

"Thank you, Izumi-chan," she says, almost on her knees and her eyes are tearing up "_ Thank you _. My boy needed you and you were there. _Thank you _. Katsuki would have died without you."

Unexpectedly, her eyes well up with tears and she has to blink furiously not to just start sobbing again. Bakugo's words come back to her but they sound far away, and so does her mom's concerned voice as she wobbles in place. She blinks several times as she thinks of how cruel he is, of how angry he's always been at her, with her, and how lonely she's going to be without him.

Once she's managed to blink the tears from her eyes, she nods, words escaping her. Mitsuki's hands are shimmering with glycerin, a clear sign of her worry and she looks like she's about to start crying, herself. Her quirk goes crazy when she's worried, Izumi remembers, even more so when she's really nervous about something.

Yagi clears his throat, "Your son was on his way home earlier. I think he's probably there now, if you want to check on him."

Mitsuki's eyes go higher and then widen as she takes in All Might's thin frame, and how he's practically looming behind Izumi. She can imagine he makes quite the picture, and hopes Mitsuki doesn't jump to the wrong conclusions about why he's here.

"Ah, forgive me—I'm Yagi Toshinori," he bows as best he can, and Izumi wants to flinch because that _can't _be helping the pain in his side, a phantom pain shooting through her side as he straightens. He's still sort of hunched over. It probably pulls at the scar tissue for him to stand up straight. "All Might's secretary. He asked me to make sure Midoriya-chan made it home safe, given that she was caught up in two villain attacks involving him today."

Izumi can't help it; she's so, so grateful he's taken the attention off her that she almost starts crying again. Everyone is now staring at him, not her.

"I'm Bakugo Mitsuki," she bowed back "Thank you, on behalf of my son and Midoriya Inko, her mother, for walking her home. You didn't have any trouble getting here, did you? Inko-chan said you walked back from near Dagobah Beach."

"T-that was my fault," Izumi interjects, before Yagi tries to explain what happened, "I-I-I needed a bit of a break to walk around after all th-th-that s-stuff happened, and I didn't want to make A—Y-Y-Yagi-san pay for my bus ticket, either," she swallows, hoping Inko buys it. "I think I lost my pocket money when I ch-charged."

She still has it. She just couldn't handle taking the bus home knowing Bakugo was on it.

Mitsuki steps aside as a worried Inko rushes forward "Izumi!" it makes Izumi feel better just to see her, to see her crying hurts but It's _better _than her thinking Izumi's gone or getting her in trouble. "Oh, Izumi, I was so scared," she moves to hug her, but is stopped when Yagi shifts, placing himself between Izumi and her mother. "Ah—Yagi-san, thank you for walking her home—"

She hesitates as Izumi shifts back so that she can be seen around Yagi, even though she doesn't quite emerge from behind him. Her ribs _really _wouldn't like a tight hug like the kind Inko is so fond of when she's worried, and that's probably why he moved…right?

It feels almost like he's protecting her from Inko.

Is he?

Did he take what she made him promise earlier wrong, when she asked him not to talk about it? Does he think her mom might be a danger to her? Actually, given how many quirkiness kids _are _in danger from their parents that makes sense. But Inko's not a danger to her.

_ But does he know that?_

"Mrs. Midoriya, no thanks are needed," he bows slightly to Inko and moves aside. "Forgive me; I'm afraid Midoriya-chan hurt herself earlier today, saving young Bakugo's life. The combined pressure of being thrown around by a villain twice in one day and the explosions Bakugo was setting off weren't good for her ribs, so a tight hug right now will hurt her very badly," he explains and Mitsuki frowns, as do Inko and Kobayashi.

Toruki's just staring at Yagi, unmoving. It's a little creepy, and it sends an unpleasant shiver down her spine. He's always been kind to them, but she has the feeling he doesn't like Yagi very much.

_Why does he dislike All Might?_

"It might have happened to anyone. I, and All Might, are both certain the slime villain that escaped into the sewers the first time, and the second attack, hurt her ribs," he finishes, and Izumi's attention turns back to him.

Mitsuki shakes her head "That boy. I'd have a talk with him if I thought it would fuckin' help," Izumi shoots a slightly panicked look at All Might, who shakes his head, "Thank you. See, Inko-chan? She's okay."

"Yes, and thank you, Yagi-san," Inko says, opening her arms, and Izumi gingerly walks forward and hugs her mother, knowing she smells of smoke and slime. Inko hugs her very gently. "What happened, Izu-chan?" she pulls back, and then realizes other people are there.

Izumi swallows down panic when she realizes Toruki's almost literally glaring at Yagi. He is doing a great job of pretending not to notice, but she's about ninety-five percent sure he's keeping an eye on Toruki, too.

"Kobayashi-san," Inko starts, realizing the neighborhood gossip is still there. "Toruki-san, Mitsuki. Thank you for coming over, but I think I'd like to talk to my daughter now, and Yagi-san too. It's really been a very long day, and I have to send emails and — maybe take her to the hospital."

"Of course," Toruki stands, and bows politely to Inko, "I'm glad to see you're well, Midoriya-chan. Thank you, Yagi-san," the way he says Yagi's name is unsettling, and Izumi doesn't like it one bit. "Kobayashi-san, may I walk you out?"

Kobayashi makes a slight face, but Inko can't see it. Izumi doesn't like that face.

"Of course, Toruki-san," she says, politely nodding to Inko and taking his offered arm. "Let us know if you need any help, Midoriya-san, and thank you for having me."

Kobayashi Haru is a consummate gossip, and spends as much time as she can eavesdropping. Her Quirk is Enhanced Senses, but that's all she has going for her, and Inko _and _Mitsuki spend a lot of their time collectively kicking her out of Inko's apartment whenever Izumi ends up hurt or the subject of more school violence. It's becoming a thing they're used to, by now, because while she's well-meaning she always wants to know the latest gossip. She _does _happen to have good connections to doctors, but it comes at the price of letting her tell tales about you to everyone in the apartment complex and some people outside it. It's still better than the alternative, which is getting no treatment at all.

And she's told some pretty nasty ones about Izumi's quirklessness in exchange for Inko getting Izumi to the right doctors before. Inko doesn't like her, but she's also as close to a good connection to doctors as they can get. Her uncle was Izumi's doctor as a child, before he left the area.

"Of course," says Inko.

"And — congratulations, Midoriya-chan—you did the right thing, and thank you for saving Bakugo-kun's life," she says, but Izumi can tell she doesn't mean it.

As they walk by, Toruki shifts as if to knock into All M—Yagi-san's injury as she passes—he usually elbows people when he's annoyed, but this is weird because he has to go out of his way to hurt Yagi.

_Does Mr. Toruki know? No — that's impossible, but why would he aim for Yagi's side if Toruki-san doesn't know?_

Izumi can see it about two seconds before it happens and she tugs Yagi-san aside, forcing him to move with as much of her weight as she can, as Toruki's elbow moves right through where his scar is. He's lucky he reacts too, or she would never have been able to move him. For a skinny man, he's very heavy — which really isn't surprising because he's _All Might _; all that muscle has to go somewhere.

Izumi breathes in and out, trying to calm herself down before Mitsuki turns to Yagi, worried.

"My son—is he, did he make it home? Did the paramedics say if he's hurt, or just being a brat, or…" she starts, worriedly "He's on his way home, right?"

"Last I saw, yes, he did make it to the bus," confirms Yagi. "He was headed for the bus stop. Midoriya-chan wanted to walk home, and I wasn't about to leave her to walk home alone after what happened today."

Mitsuki slumps in relief, and wipes at her shiny eyes with the backs of her hands.

"Thank you," she says earnestly, "_ Thank you _, Yagi-san. I know he's been an ass; for as much as I've tried to raise that boy right, he seems bound and determined to run headlong into trouble. He keeps landing in shit, ever since he got his Quirk, thinking he's better than everyone else. I'm so glad you're okay, Izumi-chan," she bows to her, "I'll help pay for the medical bills, Inko-chan. It's the least I can do with my son being part of this shit. I'd best get home and make sure Katsuki doesn't try to fucking hide his injuries _again _. Idiot keeps doing that whenever he gets hurt these days."

Izumi tries to ignore the sudden pain of thinking about that. She's seen him hide them before. But he's _not _her friend — he's _not _— and she manages, barely, not to start crying again. It's a near miss, though, and she knows Yagi can sense it, hand moving to settle on her less injured shoulder.

Inko looks at her gratefully, "Thank you, Mitsuki-chan. Thank you, and, uh, Yagi-san, please, come in. Would you like a cup of tea?" She swallows, glancing around for the teakettle, and immediately moves to enter the kitchen "Izumi-chan, are you hungry?"

Izumi nods and her mother moves toward the kitchen, ostensibly to get them some food. She's stopped when All Might clears his throat. _Yagi _, Izumi has to remind herself; his name is _Yagi _.

All M—Yagi immediately interjects, as Mitsuki is preparing to leave, "As it was a villain targeting All Might, Mrs. Midoriya, Mrs. Bakugo, I'm afraid I must insist that our agency pay for _both _of their medical treatments." Mitsuki is halfway out the door when she pauses, turning back to him in surprise. "Midoriya-chan wouldn't have even been caught in either incident if not for unlucky coincidence, nor would Bakugo-kun," he bows again. "And for that, on behalf of All Might, I apologize. Midoriya-san, much as tea would be appreciated, we need to get your daughter to the hospital today; if she has broken ribs, as I suspect she does, sleeping on them might be dangerous."

A weight drops in Izumi's stomach. She knew she wouldn't be able to get out of this without a hospital trip. But he did say medical quirks, earlier so maybe — maybe she won't be stuck there as long this time?

Mitsuki looks relieved — she's been paying some of Izumi's medical expenses in recompense for the injuries Izumi's suffered in some way, shape or form from Bakugo since elementary. Probably some agreement worked out after that first incident between her mother and Mitsuki, since they're good friends; Izumi doesn't know all of it, but she does know the Bakugo family helps out when they can or when Katsuki's been a part of it. And a broken rib and burns of this degree will be the end of Bakugo's hero career.

The thing is, for all she doesn't like him, Izumi doesn't want to ruin him. She doesn't want to end his hero career. She just wants him to leave her_ alone _. Wants him to_stop caring so damn much _about what she does with her future.

It hurts.

He used to believe in her. He used to play with her and care about her. Once upon a time they were friends.

Then she became nothing but a useless Deku to him.

Now she's just — _just All Might's student. I'm All Might's student, _she reminds herself, and it helps, as does All Might's hand on her shoulder, which hasn't moved.

She's not really paying attention to when Mitsuki leaves. It's only when Inko's moved to shut the windows that she realizes she's still standing there in her socks, muddy and gross and in need of a change of clothes. She hates this.

She really, really doesn't want to go to the hospital and get Bakugo in trouble.

Then again, All Might promised this wouldn't go too far. Maybe he can help her.

"Midoriya-san, Midoriya-chan," All M—Yagi says, "The paramedics that looked Midoriya-chan over earlier missed some very obvious bruising on her ribs," Izumi opens her mouth to protest, but All Might gives her a stern look and she closes it again. "I'm concerned about leaving it overnight, especially since she might have broken ribs and could roll over onto them in the middle of the night, and I have contacts who would be able to pull some strings. Would you be comfortable with her having that doctor's visit tonight?"

"T-t-tonight? I—" does that mean she gets to see Chiyo at UA?

Wait a minute. Yagi said _tonight _, which means she gets to go tonight.

She gets to go to UA _tonight _and meet their healer!

_I get to go to UA if mom says yes?! _

No matter how bad her injuries are, and how much of an explanation she's going to have to give Inko will be taking her to UA! She really, really doesn't want to talk about it but if it means she gets to go to UA, she'll do it.

Inko nods "Yes." Izumi bites her lip, hard but not hard enough to draw blood.

_Damn it._

Izumi's read articles about broken bones and she knows how bad leaving them alone can be, and even if it's not that bad, she doesn't want to be in pain all night or for a month. Not really. Especially not pain that will keep her mother from — well, from letting her become All Might's _student _.

She can't tell Inko that, but that doesn't mean she isn't super excited about going to meet UA's doctor. Whoever they are, they're extremely good at what they do.

"Yes, I — how soon?" Inko asks, almost breathless.

Yagi holds up his phone in his other hand, as Izumi swallows down the rising panic. That means she's going to have to explain. To another adult. One who won't look the other way.

She doesn't want to explain — he catches her eye, and mouths a silent apology. She knows he wants to keep his promise but leaving broken ribs is dangerous. She swallows, and nods.

"I'll contact one of my friends to bring us there. Ah — cleaning up would, um, help — Chiyo's already going to be on my case about overwork today, and I'd hate for you to get lectured by her, too, Midoriya-chan," he says, and Izumi flushes again, because she still stinks of sewer water and is covered in sludge.

She forgot. No wonder her arms still sting. She barely feels it because of the ribs, but it's there. And her shoulder hurts, too.

"R-right," Izumi glances at Inko, who nods.

"I'll get you a clean change of clothes. Go, clean up and I'll talk to Yagi-san," Inko says, nodding to the bathroom and Izumi slips off her socks, dropping them in the hamper as she goes in.

She really, really hopes this doesn't suck as badly as it might, because she gets to go to UA. She doesn't want to think about it. Trying to explain what's been going on to her Mom, to Yagi…to _All Might _…

It's too much. She doesn't want to do it. She doesn't want to tell anyone else about this and risk ruining Bakugo's career. Even if it won't get far, it's a strike against him and he'll definitely blame her for it, even if she did nothing wrong.

But Yagi believes in her. Believes her, even when no one else, even when her _mom _hasn't always believed her. He'll make sure she gets to see a doctor who believes her and she gets to go to UA!

She gets to go on-campus, to UA to receive medical treatment. To the campus she's wanted to go to for years, and years, and years — his alma mater. His _high school _.

The high school she's wanted to go to since she was a little kid, since before she found out she was quirkless.

If it's Recovery Girl, surely she'll believe Izumi, too, right? She won't be like the others — she's better, she has to be. She's at UA — that doesn't mean everything is good, because a lot of bad pros have gone there too, but if Yagi trusts the woman, then that has to mean something. And with him there, she won't just pretend Izumi doesn't mean something, right?

The thought of meeting UA's famed Recovery Girl has Izumi speeding her way through the shower, cleaning all of the slime and dirt off of herself faster than she thinks is possible. She gets to meet _Recovery Girl _, one of the world's foremost strong heroes and a _female _hero who was in the top ten at one point.

She's so excited that even getting dressed is difficult, but she manages it, around fresh bandages. She tries to focus on that and not worry about Bakugo — because she's going to UA. She's going to go to UA before she gets _accepted _, before she's even tried to _get in _to the school!

That in mind, Izumi smiles at the thought of seeing so many pro heroes — all in one place! — And opens the bathroom door to see Yagi-san and her mom nodding. Both of them turn to look at her and she can't help her wide smile when she catches sight of Yagi-san's nod.

_I'm going to UA!_

* * *

**Why yes, you did just see Toshinori out-polite and roast Endeavor.**

**And yes, Toshi and Izumi are both rays of sunshine. Most of this chapter wouldn't work from Toshi's PoV so here we are with more Izumi. There will be more PoV characters later, and I will add them as I see fit. **

**Disclaimer: Eri is actually a name I took from Meitantei Conan/Case Closed, as Mouri Ran's mother, Eri, is a successful lawyer and I needed a lawyer-y character. She is in NO WAY related to the Eri you guys are familiar with (if you know who I'm talking about, go you; if not, wait for Season 4). **

**Hanako and Noriko are both employees of Toshinori's agency (one of them still works there, and the other is retired and married, living her best life and has grandchildren now). Poor Toshi has no idea people are flirting with him, either. Ectoplasm and Ryukyu will show up later. :)))**


	8. Chapter 8: Enter: Midoriya Inko

_**Chapter Summary: Toshinori takes Izumi home, talks to Inko, and gets a student, in no particular order. And then starts putting together a plan for how to take care of her from here on out. Dad Might inbound.**_

**Beginning Note: This was actually ready before the monthly update, but I decided to post it now and then stop worrying about it. I've written a few chapters ahead of this one to keep a buffer going, and I don't know how the story's going to go once Season 4 airs. I WILL tell you that I have a storyline planned to follow through upwards of 40 chapters, regardless of what the Season 4 plot line "breaks" about my story. As far as I'm aware, it won't break it too badly.**

**There are a few references in this chapter and you may see elements of less popular anime show up, as well as some popular ones. I don't plan on a full crossover; I am simply borrowing their characters for my own amusement and because BNHA has a world that would fit them perfectly.**

**No TWs for this chapter, save for a bit of implicit judgment of quirkless people by a well-known pro hero.**

* * *

Midoriya's mother is many things. Above all, though, she is a good mother — her daughter might be treated like trash by most of the general population, for being born quirkless, but Inko kept her and from how much she worries about Izumi, that's not a relationship he has to worry about anytime soon. From the worry lines on her face to the way she smooths her apron down with her hands, he can tell she's worried — genuinely — about Izumi.

Her house shows no signs of a husband, or a father for Izumi — which might explain why she's latched onto him so quickly. He tries to ignore the small, knowing voice that sounds like Nana in the back of his head telling him that he's just as attached to her, and for similar reasons.

Still, Inko's clearly not given up on giving Izumi almost everything — she turns to him expectantly after hearing the water turn on.

"She can't hear anything over the water, Yagi-san," says Inko, staring right up into his eyes. The height difference is kind of astounding, honestly; she's tiny and Izumi is almost her height already. "It's too loud and the door's thick. Tell me. How bad is it, and how much was Katsuki involved?"

He's not surprised Inko's wised up to Bakugo's behavior and treatment of her daughter. Izumi's a good liar, obviously, but she's also had to stop herself from calling him All Might at least once and he has the feeling she's really too anxious to tell Inko too many lies. It's more likely that she downplays his behavior instead of telling her mother the truth.

With Midoriya's likely medical history, he can understand how nervous the mother has to be seeing her daughter on national television. Much less that she also had the guts to yell back at a pro hero. Toshinori resolves to keep the press away from them both—Midoriya and her mother don't deserve that kind of attention. They have to deal with enough as it is.

He chooses his words as carefully as he can. He's not about to break his successor's trust in him even if he knows it's better for Inko to know what's been happening to her.

"I'm uncertain how much Bakugo-s—kun," he catches himself before he says _shounen_, aware of how similar he will sound to All Might if he does, and that the brat doesn't really deserve the title, "Was involved this time, Midoriya-san. I know Midoriya-chan was already injured by the time she charged out — I could see it in how she moved, and she confirmed it for me after — but she was also much faster than any pro on the scene. She has at least one cracked rib, possibly more, and a shoulder injury, though I'm not entirely certain how deep it is. I know the paramedics on-site helped her bandage it, and I saw a ring of bruising on her upper arm. And while I spotted a burn injury on her side I don't know if it's from the attack, from Bakugo-kun misfiring his quirk, or from a bout of bad luck while running."

Inko blinks back tears as she takes it in, and visibly relaxes at his description. She was expecting worse, he realizes, and he's relieved by this. A text makes his phone — the regular one — buzz in his pocket in a familiar pattern and he bites back a sigh.

_Meeting Nighteye. I forgot. Shit._

"I'm — thank you, Yagi-san," whispers Inko as she reaches out, clasping his forearm. He nods, "Thank you. I'm — I'm so relieved, she's okay. She's — she'll need a doctor's appointment, maybe a-a f-few. I don't — know who's open this late, I can help — " he raises a hand and shakes his head.

"I know someone with a healing quirk," he says gently, removing his phone from his pocket. "Chiyo-sensei's treated me before and is happy to do a favor for me, if necessary." Inko's eyes water again and she twitches her fingers.

A handkerchief zooms out from behind her on the couch and she catches it, dabbing at her eyes as she sniffs again. She's trying not to cry; he lets her compose herself and looks down at the phone.

There is one text there, but he can't see it on the lock screen. Just a sign that Sir's texted him. Sir insisted he get that level of security years ago, back when he was still working as Yagi Toshinori, back before all this shit between them happened. It's probably a good thing he still has it.

Inko clears her throat, "You helped get my little girl home safe and—" she pauses, "And n-now you're — helping us get her help. Not many people have done that f-for us. So, thank you." She bows "I'm Midoriya Inko. Thank you for taking care of my little girl."

He bows back, a little awkwardly as his side twinges, "I am happy to help where needed." He swipes his phone open, ignoring the message app. "I can schedule the appointment now, if you'd like?"

"That's — very kind of you, b-but," she stammers "W-we don't have a car so c-can't get anywhere that easily. Um…"

He smiles in spite of himself, catching himself only a little late, but she doesn't appear to be horrified. "I can call in a favor, Midoriya-san. It's no trouble — several of my friends have cars, and I do as well, but I rarely use mine these days. It would probably do better in an antique store than parked near my apartment," he jokes, and she manages a watery laugh.

"Maybe so," she dabs at her eyes again. "A-alright, if you're sure it's not too much trouble t-to help us?"

"Nonsense," he feels the blood welling up in his throat, but the familiar tickle that says his lung's hurting again doesn't follow it, so he's able to swallow it back down "I'm happy to help, Midoriya-san, and All Might would insist even if I didn't. May I?"

He gestures at the phone, and she nods.

"Of—of course, forgive me for keeping you. Please, sit," she offers him space on the couch and he does so with a polite nod. "W-would you like tea?"

"Ah—no, thank you Midoriya-san," he says.

Best not to risk coughing up blood in front of her until _after_ she's aware of his injuries. She nods and takes a seat nearby, nervously tapping her fingers together.

He opens his contacts menu and swipes up to Chiyo's, grateful that he's on his non-All Might phone. Yagi's phone garners many fewer questions than All Might's and he left his more garish All Might phone at the police station with Tsukauchi.

The phone rings a few times, and then a familiar voice calls out _"Toshinori, what a surprise. Are you injured __**again**__?"_

Her voice is loud enough that Inko picks up on it, eyes wide, and Toshinori flushes, coughing a little. Thankfully, this time he doesn't cough up blood. He should be coughing it up by now, though — something to look into later maybe?

"N-no, no, Chiyo-sensei, I'm not calling about me," he hurries out. "Have you seen the news today?"

"_Not since this morning. Young idiots in Heroics kept getting stuck in things, got another patient waiting on his parents to come get him but they're late because of a train delay near Hosu. Why?"_

Toshinori takes a deep breath, reminds himself that he's doing this for Izumi's sake, and explains himself. "There was an incident today — don't worry, everyone is okay! — But I need you to take a look at one of the kids involved. The paramedics didn't notice the damage done to her ribs and I'm concerned that one of them is actually broken, given that she's admitted her pain tolerance is higher than a normal child's. You're the only doctor I trust to call on short notice."

"_What kind of idiots are treating her?!"_ demands Chiyo, and he coughs, feeling very awkward.

_Please don't make me say it in front of her mother!_

"W-well, she, um, charged in to save her classmate — it's a long story, it's on the news — and gave the pros an edge, stalled the villain long enough for All Might to save the day," he hears Chiyo's exasperated sigh, and presses on. "But the paramedics didn't take too close a look at her after she charged in. The pros scolded her for saving her classmate instead of giving her credit, and she's had a really bad day, so she shouted at them. I think the paramedics assumed she wasn't that hurt because she walked it off, but I'm concerned because she can't bend over without pain, and I know what walking with pain looks like. She let me check her over earlier and she's got at least four second-degree burns and a third-degree burn they didn't notice."

Chiyo interrupts him with a _"Fucking__** morons**__, I'll have their licenses," _and Inko looks from him to the phone in shock. _"How about you?"_

"Strained it a little, but I should be okay with a night of rest," he admits, and Chiyo sighs. "I walked her home because she got caught up in two villain attacks — the same villain, two different times — and I wanted to be sure she got home safely this time. The agency will be handling her medical costs, and her classmate's, and I'll handle the public response. I haven't checked my email since I walked her home, but I'm sure Kaiou-san's been fielding emails from every single television station."

"_And let me guess,"_ Chiyo says, _"She's like you."_

"Yes," Toshinori says, "She is, which is why I want to get her ribs looked at. I — is Nedzu-sensei also on campus? I need to talk to him, and — it's fairly serious. I need to make a request."

"_He doesn't go home until 8 these days, Toshinori. Can I trust you not to strain yourself getting her here? No unplanned heroics, young man — just get her here. Don't push yourself and let me give you a check-up."_

"Of course," Toshinori nods, giving Inko a conspiratorial wink. He hears Chiyo's quiet gasp, as he's been avoiding this for awhile, and gives Inko a reassuring nod. "Please inform Nedzu-sensei that I have a request and that I'll pay for this personally, if need be. I need to speak with him about something very important."

"_Tell the girl's mother,"_ snaps Chiyo, and Toshinori falters — his secret is hard enough to keep from the people he cares about — _"About your injuries, moron, not whatever you need to talk to Nedzu about. I'll see you and the kid soon. One more question, is she __**just**__ like you at that age?"_

Toshinori pauses, thinking it over. Is she? Not quite; he's certain she's better than he was, positive she's more like Nana than him. But he knows what Chiyo's referring to — is she recklessly brave, like he was? He already knows the answer.

"She's like my sensei was, more than me," he says, voice very soft, and he hears Chiyo pause, likely in surprise. He hasn't talked about Nana in years. "But yes, she's like me, too."

Self-sacrificing, brave to a fault, and anxious — yes, she is like him. But she's better; she's _smarter_ and she's not going to be like any other pro alive. He can see it already — she's going to be so much better than he is.

He hears Chiyo's smile, _"Alright. Do I need to be ready for one kid, or two tonight?"_

"One, tonight — I'm worried she's going to start having trouble breathing in her sleep. I'll speak with the other kid's parents about medical care, but he got a more thorough check-up so he should be alright for now," Toshinori has to work very hard not to growl the next part, "He's partially responsible for her injuries, too. He's not nearly as hurt as she is, but he's going to need counseling after today."

The words feel heavy on his tongue, anger burning deep in his chest — buried but still glowing. Almost cold, or growing so, and he knows what he has to do when they get to UA. That brat needs more than counseling; he needs a firm hand to keep him in check. It's not Toshinori's place to decide that, though, so he has to keep that to himself.

"_Bring her by this evening, then. I want to see what kind of kid made you change your mind so fast,"_ he can hear her smirking at him and finds himself smirking back.

"I will, Chiyo-sensei. Thank you," he hangs up, letting her get back to her patient. Inko leans forward a little, expectant, and he nods "She's ready to see Midoriya-chan tonight, Midoriya-san. Chiyo-sensei's known me since I was a kid — been treating all my injuries, too, especially when I can't go to a regular hospital in time. She's very skilled and will take good care of your daughter, Midoriya-san."

Inko nods, relieved "Thank you, again, Yagi-san. She, uh, said you were also injured. Is there something I should do, or can do?" he hesitates, "Are you okay?"

He doesn't really want to lie to Midoriya Inko, but letting his secret out to more than two or three people is a really bad idea. His successor needs to know, but Inko will be in danger if she knows absolutely everything, and he doesn't want to make her a target. The way the older man acted towards him today indicates that at least one weird, if not dangerous, person lives in her apartment complex. He decides he'll explain more at UA, if need be, but right now he'll wait. Izumi is guileless and honest almost to a fault, but Inko might not be, and he's been fooled before by kind old motherly types.

If she turns out to have connections to All for One, or any villainous organization, he's going to have one hell of a fight on his hands. And he'll hurt his successor by having to bring her into it all, too.

"Do you remember the attack about five years ago?" he asks, and she nods, "I was out at dinner, helping All Might organize his schedule, and the building was attacked. He got there in time, but," he shrugs, gesturing to his side "The building came down. I was impaled on some rebar, and getting it out of me required several operations. I lost most of my stomach, a kidney, some ribs, and half of a lung, so while I used to look — healthier, I can't eat many things easily right now. Chiyo-sensei fixed me up as best she could, but even she isn't a miracle-worker. I strained it a little earlier today at the agency," he rushes to assure Inko when she opens her mouth, worried, "And I've been good at taking care of it."

"Not as good as you should be," she says, and he lowers his head. "It—it's really okay, Yagi-san, I shouldn't have pried; forgive me, please! D-does Izumi know?"

He nods "I explained it to her already. Actually, Midoriya-san, I was hoping to ask you," he pauses, thinking over his words as Inko nods. "Ah, first of all, you should know — Chiyo-sensei is Recovery Girl, and she works at UA. Are you alright with your daughter being treated at UA?"

"UA?!" yelps Inko, falling back onto the couch, and with a _click_ the TV turns on.

"_Reporters are still in shock over the quirkless boy that scolded three pro heroes today, after All Might—" _Inko hurriedly shuts it off as Toshinori winces, glancing at the sheer number of emails in his inbox.

He's got at least fifty to deal with, on top of the press. He's in for a late night.

So is Kaiou-san. He's going to have to send her and her partner on a very good vacation once they're done fielding this mess.

"Yes, Midoriya-san," he says, "UA has one of the best medical heroes in the world on staff and, given that Recovery Girl — Chiyo-sensei — is used to treating injured children, she would be the best choice on short notice. She's also been scolding me for overworking," he adds, and Inko smiles, "Since I'm supposed to have reduced hours. Unfortunately, I have quite a bit of work to do and we just hired eight new interns, in addition to the three pro hero interns, so logistics often fall on me when they mess up."

Inko frowns at him "You should be resting, with an injury like that," she mutters, just loud enough for him to hear."As to going to UA, yes, I'm okay with that. W-will we need to provide transport, or…?"

"I'll ask my friend to drive us there. Tsukauchi Naomasa is one of my oldest friends and works as the police contact for many hero agencies, though he should be off work as of right now," Toshinori says, checking the time. "He often helps me get around when I have work to do far out from the agency, as public transportation with this can be — awkward, as I cough up blood sometimes." Inko looks at him in concern and he waves his free hand "Ah — it's really nothing to worry about! I sometimes stretch the scarring in my lung and then I have to cough or it ends up in my airway, but it's pretty normal by now!"

Inko gives him a concerned, considering look. He has the feeling he's about to sign up for a lot of mothering, especially as the water's just shut off. It can't really be helped if he wants to stay in his successor's life, though. There are worse things he could be agreeing to, after all.

"Alright, Yagi-san," she says, as the door opens and Izumi walks out, looking hopeful. "Izumi! Yagi-san was just telling me we're going to UA," Izumi stops, a grin lighting up her face, and Toshinori can't help but beam back at her.

"We're going to UA!?" yells Izumi in surprise, and Toshinori smiles, opening his messages to contact Naomasa.

"_Could we have a ride to UA? Midoriya is injured more than I thought and Chiyo-sensei agreed to meet with her."_

Inko beams at her "Yes, Izumi! The doctor there is a friend of Yagi-san's, and she agreed to see you on short notice!" Izumi's almost bouncing up and down as Toshinori glances back down at his phone.

"_**If you promise to go straight home after, yes."**_

"_I will, I promise. I need to call a few people at the agency, but mainly I need to talk to Chiyo-sensei and Nedzu-sensei before the day's over. And Midoriya-chan's mother."_

"_**I'll be there in a few minutes. Sir texted me — he needs you to talk to him."**_

Toshinori frowns at his phone. Sir won't like his response, but he's not about to change his mind now. He's found his successor — Sir's choice is likely to not be nearly so good a fit as Izumi. He's already confident in that; she's smart, analytical, and has more heroic spirit than anything — _and_ she wasn't trying to impress him at the time.

He'll talk to Sir.

"YES!" yells Izumi and he smiles a little more. "WE'RE GOING TO UA!"

He could get used to this.

"_I'll talk to him once I'm there. Send him an apology notice for me."_

"_**Just reminding you.**_ _**Be there in five."**_

He looks up from his phone and closes the app, ignoring Sir's second text. "Tsukauchi should be here in about five minutes. And yes," he grins at Izumi, whose grin widens, shining like the sun. "We're going to UA."

He thinks he feels something, not quite like One for All, shift as she grins up at him. He's not sure, but he can't help smiling back at her. Her happiness is infectious.

"Mom, mom — Y-yagi-san, um, d-did you tell her?" Izumi's stopped bouncing, which is better for her ribs, and Inko turns to him.

_Shit, I forgot._

He has to ask Inko permission. Of course he does. Clearing his throat, he straightens — he is All Might; he's not about to run cowering from his successor's mother, but her stare is _frightening_ — and tries to organize his thoughts a bit.

"Midoriya-san — after today, I would, and All Might would, as well — like to sponsor your daughter, and train her," he stumbles over the words a little, but they're pretty clear. "She's told me she wants to apply for UA, and I'd like to train her to do just that, w-with your permission. Quirkless or not, most hero agencies would _leap_ at the chance to have your daughter join as an intern as she is right now. With a few years of training, she'll be outperforming many of the pros. There are many heroes who fight without quirks; Eraserhead, for example, brings people with quirks down to his level and fights them quirkless. He has to rely on his own strength, speed, and technique in a fight, as do many pros. Her analytical skills and instincts are very good, and she's only fourteen. I have no doubt she'd be snapped up the minute she graduates high school to work at a hero agency, even without a quirk. And if not by an agency, then by the police force."

Even though he has absolutely no idea how he's going to get her into good shape right now. He's going to have to ask around for advice and do some research, but Chiyo's going to require a few rest days first and he can do it then. Right? And he has to keep her from getting hurt again, especially by training with him. Otherwise her mother will refuse the offer.

Inko takes a good look at him, eyes narrowed and then glances at Izumi, who's smiling at her mom, hesitant.

"Izumi, come with me for a moment, please," she gets to her feet, and nods to Toshinori, "We'll be right back. Are you sure I can't offer you tea, or anything to eat?"

"No, thank you; I'm good," he says, giving her a polite nod in return.

There's no way they have anything he can eat around here. And while he's strict about eating, he only eats twice a day, not the six or seven his doctor requires of him. He doesn't have time to sit here and eat dinner; besides, he has some cold soba at home with a very plain sauce he can eat and enjoy without issue. With some dietary supplements.

She's clearly trying to talk to Izumi without him there to add pressure to the situation. He opens his messaging app, and nods to her.

_I'll just deal with Sir right now, then. Since she needs a minute._

"I've a meeting I need to reschedule," he says, "And a few emails to send. If you need to speak alone, I'm happy to wait in here."

"Ah — thank you, Yagi-san," Inko gives him a polite bow, Izumi a nod, and both head into the kitchen, out of hearing range.

Well. Out of hearing range for a normal person. He's pretty sure if he tried he could hear everything they were saying, but he doesn't want to pry so he does his best not to listen in, focusing on his messaging app.

He has four unread messages from Sir Nighteye.

He does not want to deal with this. Maybe dealing with the media emails — no, his inbox is crammed; if he starts answering one he'll be doing it all night. He can work on them tonight, with Kaiou-san's help. He has to sort this situation out first.

Toshinori tries not to sigh. The timestamp on there of them is from earlier today — no doubt Sir saw the villain attack and wanted to give him time to clean up before meeting — but one is from just now.

"_**You're late."**_

"_**What the hell, All Might."**_

"_**You said you wanted to meet me!"**_

"_**Where ARE you? Did you get injured again?"**_

Sighing, Toshinori opens the text conversation, and takes a few deep breaths. He's going to have to answer this now, and Sir is going to be angry with him. He hates making Sir upset, hates arguing with anyone, but he's had enough of being pushed around by Sir Nighteye's future sight.

Sir has yet to be wrong, but Toshinori refuses to believe the future is set in stone, not as Sir claims.

"_Something came up and I can't meet today."_

"_**I saw. The quirkless kid made the news. Typical."**_

Okay, ouch. Sir might not know all of the details of One for All, and he certainly doesn't know that Toshinori didn't add anything to it when he took it on, but the casual dismissal implicit in Sir's text hurts a little. Especially not when Izumi's had such a hard time of it from other prejudiced adults.

He takes a deep breath and lets it out, reminding himself that Sir doesn't know that Toshinori's quirkless, just that his quirk came in late. Remembering that Sir saw the end of _All Might_, not Yagi Toshinori, and has said as much. It's why dating didn't work out for them; he couldn't keep them separated in his mind.

It's time to remind him that Toshinori has been keeping a lot of secrets, and very few people — Gran Torino being one of them — remember. Sir might know he's Toshinori, but he doesn't know that Toshinori didn't actually add anything to One for All; he simply used the combined strength added to the quirk. Sir also doesn't know that the enhanced senses and the puffing up came after One for All, not before.

"_Be kind, Sir. That kid's had a hard life."_

"_**You're not coming today, then?"**_

"_No. The kid's pretty beat up and there's more to the story than I thought. You'd do the same thing in my shoes."_

"_**Likely as not, yes. Let me guess, you like the kid even though they did a real stupid thing."**_

"_I do."_

"_**If you didn't want my help, you should have said so."**_

Sir's offended, of course he is. Toshinori can't help feeling a bit responsible — he would be offended, too, in Sir's shoes — but he doesn't know what to say. He's not sure Sir expects a response.

But he can't just leave Midoriya Izumi to face off against all this alone. She's brighter than she should be, with a life like she's had so far, and he can't help himself. She's going to be a hero, and he's going to make damn sure of it.

"_And I appreciate the offer of help."_

Then, annoyingly, Sir sends him a closed-door emoticon. He's used to it by now, but it still hurts a little. His former friend sets his status to 'offline' and Toshinori sighs, putting his phone away. He hates having to even try to justify his decisions to Sir Nighteye, who has taken over in trying to help him find a successor, or who did after the fight with All for One.

He's absolutely certain that Sir's vision was right, but given how far out it was—or is—he's not sure Sir knows for sure if it's real, and he certainly doesn't. As Nana once told him, _squirt, the future's not set in stone_, and while he's never known Sir's quirk to be wrong, he'd like it to be, just this once. He'd like to have some control over what he does, and who he is, in the last years he has to live.

Sir doesn't seem to understand that.

He's trying to push Toshinori in a direction, and he continues to see Toshinori as — well, not _incapable_, but frustratingly impossible to get through to, and he refuses to try to see things from Toshinori's eyes. Yes, he might be dying, but that doesn't mean he's going to simply lie down and _give up_ at the news, especially not with a child's future on the line. He's surprised by the thought — he'd thought he made his peace with Sir's vision when he finished recovering from his last surgery.

Apparently not, given how frustrated the idea of just lying down and giving up makes him. The idea that Sir's predicted future is the one he has to look forward to frustrates him.

He's not ready to die.

He's got so much more he wants to do. He wants to train Izumi, wants to see her take over as Number One from him, wants to see society raise her up as a new Symbol but not of Peace. He wants to ensure she succeeds.

He wants to be there, to see the future Sir foresees.

He's never been entirely comfortable with Sir's quirk, but he's never quite noticed how _frustrating_ it is to deal with the man who seems to think he's always right, until recently. Sir Nighteye seems to be trying to make him choose, even if he is trying to do so in the hopes of making sure Toshinori has _something_ there, and has a backup plan. It feels forced, like Sir is trying to make the present fit with what he's seen of the future, and he doesn't like it. Perhaps it's just Sir trying to help, but it's never felt quite as frustrating as it does right now.

It doesn't feel right for him to choose Sir's candidate. And something feels—wrong, about trying to make the future fit into Sir's view of it. Yes, Sir has a great candidate, but Toshinori's already picked his successor and he did it without Sir's help.

He's picked a girl with a heart big enough to save her bully; someone who is smart, loving, caring, and kind in spite of the abuse she's suffered. She's miles beyond even Toshinori in her compassion at this age — she acts without hesitation when someone's in need — and is willing to stand up for herself in a way he never could at her age.

The world needs her to be a hero.

Sir has the (admittedly, annoying) tendency to mistake Toshinori for someone who doesn't think his decisions through — he falls for the pretense of Toshinori being a musclebound strongman, or a simple, quirkless secretary — not the hero he is, and not the experienced leader he is. Sir still doesn't think he can work underground as easily as Toshinori has in the past, and hasn't connected all the dots between Kino Kazuki and Yagi Toshinori. Even knowing Toshinori's secret, he still often sees All Might first. They were once very close, but being All Might constantly doesn't work in any setting — especially when Sir is so intent on treating him as if he's two different people depending on what he looks like.

He knows some of that isn't exactly Sir's fault, but Naomasa hasn't had an issue with it, and neither has Sorahiko. So, even if it's selfish, he wishes Sir were more like them, rather than

Sir's student will be like Toshinori, in some ways at least; his compassion may even be part of a mask he puts on. The student will be an idealized version of who Sir assumes would be a younger Toshinori, though he has absolutely no idea of the truth.

The world doesn't need another Yagi Toshinori.

The world needs someone _better_ than him.

Someone like Midoriya Izumi, someone who will take One for All and use it in a way that no one else thought they could.

He looks up from the black screen of his phone to see Inko and Izumi emerge from the kitchen; the former looks upset and the latter looks determined, but they both look better than earlier. And Inko is remarkably less stressed.

He braces for bad news anyway, because he suspects this conversation will not be easy. Inko walks over to him, intent on talking to him.

"Excuse me, I need to know if you're—you're—serious?" Inko's voice is quiet, a little thinner than he'd have liked, but she's holding his gaze very, very intently. "You want to…to train my daughter? To help her become a hero?"

He can't tell if she's worried or happy about this. He hopes it's both, for Izumi's sake, and there's something stronger in her words now than before. She's looking for confirmation, not questioning his decision like Sir is.

Toshinori nods. "Absolutely. Quirkless or not, your daughter saved a boy's life simply by breaking down the situation and making an opening for All Might to use to his advantage. I know at least three pro heroes who would be interested in helping her train, even if to ensure she just gets into the support program to become a strategist for a hero agency. She has a mind for tactics and strategy comparable to Ragdoll of the Wild Wild Pussycats, and Ragdoll had to train for years _and_ has a quirk that enhances that ability called _Search,_ which allows her to spot weaknesses. I wouldn't be surprised if the Wild Wild Pussycats took an interest in her simply to ensure she learns to use her mind like Ragdoll, and if not them, Principal Nedzu of UA would also be quite interested in training her if she continues to show this aptitude for strategy and analysis. Though I would like to train her not just because of these skills, but her desire to help others, and moving without thinking — like a true hero." Izumi is turning bright red, and Inko is staring at him like he's speaking Greek, but Toshinori is certain he's not.

He really hopes she's not about to tell him no.

Inko smiles, then, and the tension breaks. "We need to work out the details," she says, as Toshinori's phone vibrates. "But right now, my first answer, is yes, Yagi-san. You may train my daughter."

Toshinori gets to his feet just in time for Izumi to yell "YES!" and surge forward to hug her mom.

Inko laughs as Izumi hits her, holding on tight for a few moments before pulling back, flinching and holding her side. Toshinori's on his feet before Inko is and steadying Izumi, whose face has gone a worrying shade of white.

Inko puts a hand on her forearm, "Izumi?"

Toshinori gives Izumi a searching glance when she hesitates and looks at him.

"I hurt my ribs again," Izumi admits, and Inko sighs. "I'm sorry — I'm just…I'm really excited, Mom!"

Toshinori tries to cheer them up before Inko says something else. "Our ride is downstairs, and Tsukauchi-san is interested in meeting you."

"Oh—of course!" there is a bit of a scramble as the three of them get ready to leave, Toshinori slipping his shoes on as Izumi and Inko both rush to get their things together.

He glances down at the text.

"_**Outside with the car. These two must really be something."**_

"_You have no idea, Naomasa."_

He has permission to train Izumi.

He has permission to _train his successor_.

He feels strangely light, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he watches Izumi practically vibrating, putting her shoes on. He slips his own shoes back on and with a nod follows Inko and Izumi out into the hall, Inko locking the door behind them. From behind, they look astonishingly similar, though Inko is obviously older and taller than her daughter.

Inko gives him a grateful smile when he nods to Izumi, who almost sprints down the hall in her excitement. He can't help himself; he laughs, the sound bubbling up out of his mouth before he can stop it.

Izumi stops, flushing, and he smiles at her when she apologizes again, flustered and muttering about how rude she's being. Inko's about to apologize, but Toshinori beats them to the punch.

"Nonsense, my dear girl, I'd have been as excited as you when I was your age. I _was_ that excited when I found out I got into the General Studies course," he winks at her and she gapes at him.

And then actual stars appear in her eyes. "Really?! You made it into UA that long ago without a quirk?!"

Toshinori doesn't know how he's gotten this lucky, but with a nod he explains how he'd gotten in as a General Studies student. How much he'd wanted to be a hero, and who had recommended him — he has to stop, to blink back tears, at first — and then continues. He transferred in his third year, into Heroics, in Nana's memory and he hadn't been in Heroics for long before he became valedictorian.

The elevator 'dings' and Izumi steps in, still red, and as Toshinori steps in beside her, Inko moves close to him.

Standing on tiptoes, she whispers "Thank you," so low he'd swear he imagined it if not for the wink she gives him.

He smiles at her in return, and nods, turning back to Izumi who's now muttering under her breath a mile a minute — something about getting into the General course and how it's not the end of the world — and his heart lifts a little.

He can't wait for Naomasa to meet the two of them.

(And if a part of him is waiting to vet whether or not Inko is safe for Izumi, well. No one has to know about that.)

* * *

**End Note: When at a loss for characters, I do cherry-pick from some anime I like. I'm not even all that sorry about it because it leads for some interesting implications :) **

**Note: I really respect Sir Nighteye, but I don't like him very much as a person. He is bound and determined that he is right, and he is, most of the time, but he's not infallible, and the way he acts makes him come off as arrogant and a little conceited at first. I think he's a cool character, though, so I tried to give him a reason to be somewhat unreasonable towards Izuku, or in this case, Izumi.**

**(The breakup was a bonus that I was going to assume was fanon, but regardless of its canonicity (I think Horikoshi confirmed they used to date), in this universe, he and Toshinori dated somewhat seriously for awhile.)**


End file.
